Trump accused of using nukes

[Kulindahr]

I was skimming articles about the use of the MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast) bomb in Afghanistan and came across this claim:

[h=1]Trump Uses Nukes: VT Teams Rush to Site of Nuclear Bunker Buster in Afghanistan[/h]
The article is a fascinating read mostly for the technical data about nukes farther down, but mostly seems to be an excuse to display an accusation that the U.S. has been using small nukes all along.


Though it didn't take much digging to uncover a definite agenda (see here).

 

[Benvolio]

Looks like fake news to me.

 

[andysayshi]

veterans today.com is a fake news site.

VeteransToday.com has a sizable following, as many fake websites do. VeteransToday routinely re-prints articles from Pravda, a former Soviet owned mouthpiece, and the Iranian PressTV. Both Pravda and PressTV print so much fake news that they can not be taken seriously.

The owner of VeteransToday.com openly admits that a large portion of the website are fake stories or real stories with fake elements. The worst part about VeteransToday is they use the motto “turn off the fake news.” When questioned about fake articles, Senior Editor Gordon Duff has an outlandish excuse. He says he has to publish fake articles or the government would kill him for his real ones.

Other sites like AmericanNews.com are “click bait.” They take real stories and add a fake picture or fake element. The purpose of “click bait” sites is to get viral social media sharing and then profit off of advertising. When you share a story on social media, check the source. Do not contribute to the viral sharing of these sites. Tell the person that it is a fake site.

DailyCurrant.com (100% fake political stories)

NationalReport.net (100% fake political stories)

http://conservative-headlines.com/2015/02/veterans-today-is-a-fake-news-website/

 

[Kulindahr]

I'd call this one a fake story with real elements.

Crazy. I wonder how many people believe this stuff.

 

[Telstra]

the explosion looks huge

 

[rareboy]

Well that is done and dusted then.

It was funny how Trump behaved like he was the first president to ever drop a big bomb on something. He probably will stay hard all weekend.

 

[Sausy]

Just read a report which has that the Russians have already a far more destructive "father of all bombs" which actually can act like, in destructive power, a small nuclear blast without the radioactive fallout. The thermobaric weapon explodes in midair and combines with oxygen in a hellish fuel/air mix for a far wider explosive result.

 

[ballcaphair]

So you know who does have his finger on the button and will deploy the defense budget. How in the world is this conservative on any level. This is NOT normal.

 

[Vitamin]

Well that is done and dusted then.

It was funny how Trump behaved like he was the first president to ever drop a big bomb on something. He probably will stay hard all weekend.

He isn't even the first President to drop the MOAB. I remember Bush doing this very thing before invading Iraq.

 

[swerve]

He isn't even the first President to drop the MOAB. I remember Bush doing this very thing before invading Iraq.

You are thinking of the bunker busters -- this, in fact, is the first time the MOAB was used in conflict.

 

[evelyn]

How many MOAB's does the US currently have I wonder?

 

[vulgar_newcomer]

Just read a report which has that the Russians have already a far more destructive "father of all bombs" which actually can act like, in destructive power, a small nuclear blast without the radioactive fallout. The thermobaric weapon explodes in midair and combines with oxygen in a hellish fuel/air mix for a far wider explosive result.

The USA has a larger non nuke over the MOAB too, its never been used outside of testing. This is strictly bs trump tiny hands work, a single B2 bomber carries a
destructive pay load of over 40 k.

 

[rareboy]

Interesting though that all they got for it was 36 IS asshats and destroying about 1000 feet of tunnels.

Like the bombing of the airport at Syria really accomplished nothing.

Is this the new make-work project for the US military industrial complex? Like when the US used all the bunker busters and really accomplished nothing with those either...except employment in the mid-west states?

 

[Kulindahr]

the explosion looks huge

That doesn't like like any of the images being shown on news reports.

 

[Kulindahr]

Just read a report which has that the Russians have already a far more destructive "father of all bombs" which actually can act like, in destructive power, a small nuclear blast without the radioactive fallout. The thermobaric weapon explodes in midair and combines with oxygen in a hellish fuel/air mix for a far wider explosive result.

It's about four times as powerful as the MOAB, equivalent to 44 tons of TNT. That does put it in the "small nuke" range; the U.S. "Davy Crocket" 'pocket' nuke has a yield around 20 tons, IIRC.

 

[Kulindahr]

The USA has a larger non nuke over the MOAB too, its never been used outside of testing. This is strictly bs trump tiny hands work, a single B2 bomber carries a
destructive pay load of over 40 k.

The reports say the bomb use was requested by local security people, Afghan in fact if I'm reading it right (neither of two articles was clear whose local security people it was).

I can only guess that there's a reason for wanting just one huge bomb rather than a lot of smaller ones; the only one I can really think of is that a blast wave from a single source has significantly different effects than multiple blast waves from numerous sources -- multiple blast waves will both reinforce in some places and cancel in others, so maybe a single source is better guaranteed to wipe out everything.

 

[Benvolio]

I think it was in part to demonstrate to No Korea the damage we can do without using nuclear weapons, both to their underground facilities and Kim's bunkers.

 

[Pierresro]

Looks like fake news to me.

If any one knows fake you do....

 

[Kulindahr]

Interesting though that all they got for it was 36 IS asshats and destroying about 1000 feet of tunnels.

Like the bombing of the airport at Syria really accomplished nothing.

Is this the new make-work project for the US military industrial complex? Like when the US used all the bunker busters and really accomplished nothing with those either...except employment in the mid-west states?

I've seen and heard figures ranging from "a thousand feet" to "thousands of feet" of tunnels. My question on that is how did they measure them -- did someone get inside, or was there ground-mapping radar used, or what? Besides that are statements saying "some weapons" to "a great deal of materiel" was destroyed.

Though I did find an explanation of how a surface-blast bomb destroys tunnels: tunnels near the surface without solid rock over them are easily destabilized and then collapsed by the explosion shock.

 

[Kulindahr]

I think it was in part to demonstrate to No Korea the damage we can do without using nuclear weapons, both to their underground facilities and Kim's bunkers.

That would only work if this had been a penetrator, which it wasn't. N Korea builds their underground stuff both deeper and stronger than ISIS makes cave tunnels. Something several tens of meters down lined with reinforced concrete is a whole different game.

Besides which, according to the reports the authorization didn't come from, or even need to come from, the White House for this; it was passed up to General Nickelson (sp?) who's in charge of U.S. forces in the region, and as the MOAB is not technically a WMD, the request didn't have to go any higher.

OTOH, if it makes Kim take notice, that might be a good thing -- though on the gripping hand, it also might make him decide to do his own demonstration by nuking Guam, which is within range of missiles he has (though how good their accuracy is, is a matter of much debate, ranging from within a kilometer of the target to dozens of kilometers).