It only took Vladamir Putin a matter of hours to respond to the US dropping the 'Mother of all bombs,' on the ISIS cave network in the mountains of Nangarhar in the mountains of Afghanistan, 30 miles from the Pakistani border.
Is War imminent?
After his attack on Syria on April 6th, president Trump followed it up with aa attack on a remote ISIS outpost with a device that had not been tested in 14 years. Anywhere between 60 to 100 casualties were declared, although far more insurgents were killed in the tunnel networks under the hills and will never be accounted for, as certainly no casualties nor wounded have been reported at any hospital nor medical facility nearby.
And why would they anyway, the force and ripple effect of the bomb instantly vaporises anything it comes in contact with.
Costing approximately $18 million, this is the first time the (MOAB) Massive Ordnance Air Burst has been used since its inception in 2003 and is the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used.The GBU-43 is 30 foot long, weighs 26, 100 lbs and contains 11 tonnes of explosive. Being a thermobaric device; one that uses oxygen from the downward air rush it creates, producing an enormous explosion before it hits the ground, which in turn ignites the air it has come from and produces a firestorm capable of penetrating 200ft underground and devastating everything in the circumference of a mile.
Trump vs Putin - the final showdown?
It was certainly a statement of intent from President Trump, and certainly a tick on his, 'to do list,' from his pre-election promise that he would, 'bomb the s**t out of ISIS if he became president.' His only comment after the last weeks strike; 'It has been a very successful mission,'
Shortly afterwards it was superseded by a statement from Russia's, Vladimir Putin.
He informed the world that the American weapon was albeit obsolete, for his military had produced, 'the father of all bombs.' It weighs in lighter that the US version at some 15, 560lbs yet packs more of a punch at 44 tonnes of explosives, with roughly the same radius of destruction. It likes its US counterpart has not been tested in 10 years.
One could simply shrug shoulders and mutter ooer, 'Boy's and their toy's.' if the scenario was not so worrying for the world at large. A precedent has certainly been set with North Korea, and one can read into the actions of the past week as a direct warning; all options may be on the table, yet neither party wants to discuss them. The same of course could be said about Syria! It may be a very long time before Russia is prepared to ditch its support, and by then it may be far too late.
Whether it's Mother versus Father; one can only hope it does not descend to that level of pettiness?
