U. S. DROPS ‘ MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS’ IN AFGHANISTAN
Bomb may have been aimed at ISIS, but blast could echo in North Korea
PLUS: Misdirected coalition airstrike in Syria kills 18 U. S.- backed forces 18
Even if President Trump didn’t know a 21,000- pound bomb would be dropped in Afghanistan on Thursday, that doesn’t mean he won’t get a political benefit from it.
After the bomb struck an Islamic State tunnel complex, Trump said he endorsed the strike, and he said he wasn’t trying to send a message to another trouble spot, North Korea.
“It doesn’t make any difference if it does or not — North Korea is a problem. The problem will be taken care of,” Trump told reporters.
Asked about the use of the GBU- 43, or massive ordnance air blast ( MOAB) in Afghanistan, coming one week after a missile strike in Syria, Trump said that “what I do is I authorize my military. ... We have given them total authorization, and that’s what they’re doing, and frankly that’s why they’ve been so successful lately.”
Government officials said that while Trump has been briefed on the potential use of the MOAB, it does not appear the president got a special briefing on Thursday’s attack. There was no need for one, a White House official said, be-
“What I do is I authorize my military. ... We have given them total authorization.” President Trump
cause Trump had given authority to the military when it came to attacking ISIS, and the president was aware the weapon was an option. “He had already in effect green- lighted it,” one official said.
Military officials said the president has given the military wide latitude to fight the war on terrorism.
Also limiting the messaging is that commanders in Afghanistan already had approval to use the bomb from Trump’s predecessor, President Obama, who also changed the rules for bombing in Iraq and Syria last year, said a Defense official who was not authorized to speak on the record. He said the date was chosen because of the target, and the White House was briefed that the bomb might be used.
The strike was announced because it was the first time the MOAB was used in combat, and the size of the blast was certain to raise questions among locals, the official said, and it was not dropped to send a message to North Korea. The MOAB was seen as the best choice among a series of options for the attack.
A second senior Defense official also cautioned that more should not be read into the MOAB. Sometimes a bomb is just a bomb, said the official, who also was not authorized to speak publicly.
The attack may bolster Trump’s popularity, analysts said, though it will likely heighten fears his aggressiveness could bring wider conflict.
Foreign policy analysts have long noted that Trump likes to surround himself with military symbols, whether it’s appearing with troops in uniform or on battleships and aircraft carriers.
“I think Trump is the kind of person who likes to put out visuals,” said Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest, a non- partisan foreign policy think tank. “It seems like he’s a guy who likes to do a lot of signaling to his adversaries.”
He added that it doesn’t mean we should expect the U. S. to attack North Korea, whose leader, Kim Jong- un, has increased his war of words with the United States. “I think he’s trying to signal to the North Koreans that he means business, but I don’t think it means anything more than that.”
The saber rattling has created worries from some critics that Trump might somehow start “World War III.”
Michael Caputo, a Trump campaign aide, said the military “are happy to see a different kind of chief executive,” and dismissed concerns about a general war: “We’ve been at war with Islamic terrorism for a long time. ... This isn’t unique to his presidency.”
“This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive.” Gen. John Nicholson, top U. S. commander in Afghanistan