The CNN article I read didn't mention Trump. CENTCOM was asked permission, that's it.

@gold

Maybe Trump wasn't involved, but there seems to be a lot more freedom to flex its muscles in the military under him. As long as he doesn't kill civilians, I kinda like it

If it had been Trump he would have used a nuke saying why did we buy them if we never use them.

The Mother Of All Bombs...

I mean, if we're in these wars, we might as well win them, right? I get that, but still, it's pretty fucked up to drop such a massive weapon, even if it's only a fraction of what we dropped to end World War II.

@bo

for me it's on whether or not he killed any civilians, or destroyed private property of civilians. that's the deciding factor for me

Military planning is all about selecting the right tool for the job. From what I've heard this bomb was a good option for this situation. I don't know what the fuss is about.

In other news, Trump has small fingers.

With all of these military displays I've almost forgotten about the Russian investigation!

Unlike the Syria strike, this was one action I am perfectly fine with.

@James ... it is the same for me as well. I don't understand how they acquired the intelligence to determine that there would be no civilian casualties in an area as wide as a mile wide blast radius in ISIS territory. As such, I doubt they particularly cared, and that is what bothers me.

Of course, if they had that intelligence and could 100% say there were no civilians and only genuine ISIS fighters (as opposed to the definition of "civilian" when we talk of drone strikes, where people walking near a suspected ISIS fighters are, of course, automatically ISIS fighters), then that's great. Drop the biggest non-nuclear bombs you have all day long.

They went with the guilt by nearness definition since only ISIS members would be near and ISIS site and not local civilians that couldn't afford to flee.

@randomizer

seeing as literally none of us have the intelligence reports that they saw, i don't think you're exactly qualified to assert that as fact.

Well none of them wear uniforms and almost everyone there carries weapons so you can't use that as a distinguishing feature from aerial surveillance. That leaves ground surveillance and even then it's hard to tell since with a large area attack our forces pulled back long before the drop.

That leaves the traditional they must all be enemies until the body remains are ID.

We are all gonna die. Hopefully the planet will recover a few centuries after we are gone and life will continue.

Doubt it @ishirkmywork. Humanity can and will endure and adapt to anything.

I have no idea why scientists think that Humans won't work on an S curve. ALL populations are on S curves! it's just we're going to be more sad when the oscillation on the Maximum bound kills millions... so we desperately search for more and better resources.

and all the time have more babies (although the US is at a decelerating positive velocity, which is a good direction right now)

The truth is, Africa and Asia are going to hit the maximum S curve bound geographically first. Their population rates are the crazy ones when compared to total aggregate resources. places like Europe and the US are going to hit a HUGE demand burst, which will be great for us, but destroy resource reserves.

@Randomizer

so you have the population and geographical specs of the exact stronghold attacked?

because some camps really DO only have militant forces. the cell structure of many terrorist organizations DEMAND that non-essential personnel are entirely isolated: it helps for operational security so you can't be compromised (or compromise) other cells, but it also guarantees that if identified you can be easily eliminated without fear of civilian loss

From what has been reported on other ISIS camps in other countries:
Civilians used as workers/slaves/forced wives
Civilians used as human shields

So low likelihood of purely military base with no civilians.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/13/politics/afghanistan-isis-moab-bomb/

"Officials said the target was an ISIS cave and tunnel complex and personnel in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province, a remote area in the country's east which borders Pakistan."

remote, militant areas, specifically on a cave complex? DOUBTFUL civilians are there, and also, we don't know what extra intelligence was provided.

@yan, s-curve makes sense only in closed system. China can import from abroad if they outstrip their resources.

@Hauta

i addressed that, look at my next post

How do I know what you are going to write in your next post?

haha i meant my post that followed that one.

"The truth is, Africa and Asia are going to hit the maximum S curve bound geographically first. Their population rates are the crazy ones when compared to total aggregate resources. places like Europe and the US are going to hit a HUGE demand burst, which will be great for us, but destroy resource reserves."

the places with lower population growth rates are going to absorb demand from countries with higher population growth.

our problem is that as resources decline and we (have) become less labor intensive, we won't be ABLE to absorb that much.

Excuse me, it's not the largest non-nuclear bomb the US has. Just the most powerful.

Tristen... just, ugh

https://d1sui4xqepm0ps.cloudfront.net/is-this-meme-racist-full.jpg?image=cdn

We might going to hit a resource ceiling soon, but it is still doubtful. Technically the developed world should've already hit max capacity but because of innovations like the haber process which gives us tons of fertilizer, we can sustain more.

The issue isn't when resources decline @JamesYanik, it's when our technology can't stay ahead.

"I feel the same way about Donald Trump as I feel about granola."

I too feel that Trump is just sugar puffs masquerading as a healthy breakfast food.

@TheBritishGent

one could argue that technological innovation counts as a resource, but that's fair

@JamesYanik

Yeah I guess so, original ideas in general can be considered to be running out. Just look at Hollywood.

hahahaha soon actors will have to start eating one another for sustenance

haha geez