GBU-43/B dropped in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan

[AWP]

I have zero firsthand knowledge - so this is just rank speculation.

This does not smell like strategy to me. This smells like some USAF bubba has a budget meeting coming up and says 'dammit, we need to drop one of these things or this program is going to lose funding.' They run it up half the flagpole, nobody kicks, so they rock out. It makes news in the middle of the rest of the circus and folks at the top just say 'whatever, I've got other shit going on, tomorrow's tweet is going to top this thing.'

I just find it hard to believe it's part of some strategy to 'get tough' or send a message - and there was little to no PAO rollout before or after the drop.

Ladies and Gentlemen, with this post I pass the torch and title of Shadowspear Cynic to Ill Duce, long may he reign.

 

[RackMaster]

Big ops test to see what it would do to a tunnel complex, just in case...

Hmmm like what all of North Korea is probably full of.

I feel it's strategy and good one at that. Our leadership has had their hands tied for to long and now they have the freedom to use the capabilities available. It would have been a slaughter to send teams into those caves. I had just read the first article on causality reports and it looks promising.

First Reports Coming Out of Afghanistan: MOAB Killed 100 ISIS Fighters

 

[TLDR20]

I'm sure North Koreas tunnels are built to the same standard as the fucking ISIS shitheads in A-Stan . If you wanted a test against a hard deep buried target you build one in a desert in Nevada.

Not too mention the idea of a C-130 flying uncontested into NK is just about the most absurd proposition imaginable...


I was listening to Fox News while in a patients room today and they were trying to spin this as a shit across the bow of NK. I gotta say it sounds like a whole lot of horseshit. Listening to them you would have thought Obama never fired a hellfire in anger...

 

[TLDR20]

 

[Ooh-Rah]

 

[AWP]

I just watched the video via a gubment network. Jesus, that was beautiful. A cluster of grown men crowded around a screen whooping like teenagers as we looped it through about 10 iterations. That area's maps are now out of date.

 

[Devildoc]

The news said we killed 36 booger eaters. Doesn't that seem like so very few with that kind of bomb?

 

[RackMaster]

On a positive note, there was a bunch of meme's out that warranted their own article.

After America Drops Our Biggest Bomb, The Internet Drops Some Epic Memes

 

[Gunz]

The news said we killed 36 booger eaters. Doesn't that seem like so very few with that kind of bomb?

I think I'd be willing to trade a MOAB for half that amount. And for just one of those fuckers if it prevented him from rigging an IED or martyring himself with a bunch of innocent victims.

 

[Devildoc]

I think I'd be willing to trade a MOAB for half that amount. And for just one of those fuckers if it prevented him from rigging an IED or martyring himself with a bunch of innocent victims.

I hear what you are saying, but....each GBU-43/B is about $16 million (if Google is to be believed). That works out to about $444,444 per shit head. Doesn't seem like the best bang for the buck (pun intended).

I agree....each time one of those die is all good....

 

[RackMaster]

I hear what you are saying, but....each GBU-43/B is about $16 million (if Google is to be believed). That works out to about $444,444 per shit head. Doesn't seem like the best bang for the buck (pun intended).

I agree....each time one of those die is all good....

How much is a Green Beret or Ranger worth? That's what it would cost without these munitions.

Here's the actual footage.

Department Of Defense Releases MOAB Strike - We Got It

 

[AWP]

Fox News' version is the same out on SIPR minus the aircraft's symbology. That's hilarious.

 

[Devildoc]

How much is a Green Beret or Ranger worth? That's what it would cost without these munitions.

Here's the actual footage.

Department Of Defense Releases MOAB Strike - We Got It

Not disagreeing.

 

[Gunz]

I hear what you are saying, but....each GBU-43/B is about $16 million (if Google is to be believed). That works out to about $444,444 per shit head. Doesn't seem like the best bang for the buck (pun intended).

I agree....each time one of those die is all good....

This is 'Merica, Doc...Godzilla vs Bambi works for me.

 

[Gunz]

From Rack's link:

"Was it retribution for the death of US Army Staff Sgt. Mark De Alencar of 7th Special Forces Group, who was killed fighting in the same area just a few days ago?"

Even if it wasn't the foremost reason, I'm willing to bet--knowing something of Mattis's regard for his men--that the General gave more than a passing thought to the death of S/Sgt De Alencar as he put this option on the table.

 

[Devildoc]

This is 'Merica, Doc...Godzilla vs Bambi works for me.

Mea culpa, you are right, I am born again.

 

[racing_kitty]

In this BBC article, Karzai is letting his stupid show:

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack as "an inhuman and most brutal misuse of our country".

The bomb had been tested twice, then held in reserve since 2003. If you believe the numbers, no civilian casualties were sustained. What beneficial purpose to the infrastructure of Afghanistan did a mountain full of fundy ass lifters serve? Did we kill his favorite goat?

Say what you will about the rationale behind the drop, but the result was desirable. He can fade into obscurity now.

 

[RackMaster]

Karzai should focus on his opium fields.

 

[AWP]

In this BBC article, Karzai is letting his stupid show:

People listen to Pakistan's stooge?

 

[Kraut783]

Agree.....sometimes the best ops test is the real thing.