The Nuclear Question: Exploring America's Military Options In Afghanistan

In April 2017, the US dropped its most powerful non-nuclear bomb, known as the mother of all bombs, on Afghanistan. The strike was carried out in the Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border and killed 36 ISIS fighters. The bomb, officially called the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), is so large that no US warplane is capable of dropping it; it has to be offloaded from the rear of a cargo plane with the help of a parachute. The use of this powerful bomb sparked controversy, with critics questioning why it was necessary in this particular case. While the US has not used nuclear weapons on Afghanistan, former US President Donald Trump once mused about wiping out Afghanistan, stating that he had a plan that, if implemented, would have resulted in the country being wiped off the face of the Earth.

The US dropped its most powerful non-nuclear bomb, the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB), on Afghanistan in 2017

In April 2017, the US dropped its most powerful non-nuclear bomb, the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB), on Afghanistan. The strike was the first combat use of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, which was developed for the US military by Albert L. Weimorts, Jr. of the Air Force Research Laboratory. It was first tested in 2003 and was said to be the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the American arsenal at the time.

The MOAB was deployed in a strike against an Islamic State tunnel complex in the Achin District of Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, along the border with Pakistan. The target was an extensive network of tunnels and caves that ISIS fighters used as a base to launch attacks against US military advisers and Afghan forces in the area. The use of the MOAB was aimed at destroying these tunnels and caves, as well as maximising the destruction of ISIS fighters and facilities while minimising the risk to Afghan and US forces conducting clearing operations.

The MOAB bomb weighs 21,600 pounds and is GPS-guided. It is so large that it has to be deployed from the rear of a cargo plane with the help of a parachute, as no standard US warplane is big enough to carry it. The bomb creates a blast radius of 1,000 yards or a mile in each direction and is designed to be used against a specific target. It is not a penetrator weapon but is primarily an airburst bomb intended for soft to medium surface targets in a contained environment, such as a deep canyon or cave system.

The use of the MOAB in Afghanistan sparked controversy, with critics questioning the necessity of such a large-scale strike and expressing concern about the potential for civilian casualties. Afghan officials reported that over 90 Islamic State militants were killed in the bombing, while others claimed that a teacher and his young son also died in the explosion. US and Afghan forces conducted clearing operations and airstrikes in the area following the bombing and confirmed that no civilians were hurt.

The US has used cluster bombs in Afghanistan, causing civilian casualties and drawing criticism from human rights groups and governments

Cluster bombs are weapons that open in the air, releasing submunitions or "bomblets" that are dispersed over a large area, wreaking destruction on multiple targets at once. They are neither accurate nor reliable, and often malfunction, failing to explode on impact. Instead, they act like landmines, waiting to be disturbed.

The US dropped 1,228 cluster bombs containing 248,056 bomblets in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2002. In the first week alone, fifty cluster bombs were dropped in five missions. The first widely publicised case of cluster bomb use occurred on October 22, 2001, when a weapon went astray near Herat, resulting in nine deaths and fourteen injuries.

The use of cluster bombs in Afghanistan caused a public debate about the dangers these weapons posed to civilians. Human Rights Watch, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the European Parliament called for an immediate stop to their use. The Taliban also tried to capitalise on the sentiment, claiming that the US was contaminating farmland and destroying villages.

The US defended its use of cluster bombs, arguing that they were militarily effective and legal under international law. Officials emphasised that they only used cluster bombs when they were the most effective weapon for the intended target, and that they took great pains to minimise civilian casualties.

However, critics argued that the bombs were not only dangerous but also ineffective, especially in a war against terrorism where winning civilian support was crucial. The European Parliament called for an "immediate moratorium" on cluster bombs, expressing extreme concern over the difficulty of accurately targeting them and the high proportion that failed to detonate on impact.

The US has a stockpile of cluster munitions containing about 1 billion submunitions. While the US has transferred hundreds of thousands of cluster munitions to at least 30 countries, it can now only export those that leave behind less than 1% unexploded submunitions.

The US has been involved in a 20-year war in Afghanistan, the country's longest war, which ended in 2021

The US war in Afghanistan was America's longest war, lasting from 2001 to 2021. It was triggered by the September 11 attacks and consisted of three phases.

The first phase was to topple the Taliban regime, which was an ultraconservative political and religious faction that ruled Afghanistan and provided sanctuary for al-Qaeda. This phase was brief, lasting just two months.

The second phase, from 2002 until 2008, was marked by a US strategy of defeating the Taliban militarily and rebuilding core institutions of the Afghan state.

The third phase, a turn to classic counterinsurgency doctrine, began in 2008 and accelerated with US President Barack Obama’s 2009 decision to temporarily increase the US troop presence in Afghanistan. The larger force was used to implement a strategy of protecting the population from Taliban attacks and supporting efforts to reintegrate insurgents into Afghan society.

The strategy came coupled with a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. Beginning in 2011, security responsibilities would be gradually handed over to the Afghan military and police. The new approach largely failed to achieve its aims. Insurgent attacks and civilian casualties remained stubbornly high, while many of the Afghan military and police units taking over security duties appeared to be ill-prepared to hold off the Taliban.

By the time the US and NATO combat mission formally ended in December 2014, the 13-year Afghanistan War had become the longest war ever fought by the United States. American military casualties included some 2,400 service members killed and some 20,700 others wounded.

The war ended in 2021 with the withdrawal of US and NATO troops, leaving Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

In 2019, President Trump said he could wipe Afghanistan off the face of the Earth in 10 days but that he didn't want to kill millions

Trump's exact words were: "I don't want to kill 10 million people. I have plans on Afghanistan that if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth. It would be gone. It would be over in—literally, in 10 days." He also stated that he did not "want to go that route."

These remarks were made in the context of ongoing peace talks between the US and the Taliban, which aimed to end the war and bring home roughly 14,000 US troops. The comments sparked confusion and concern, with many unsure of what Trump meant by his statement. Some interpreted it as a threat to use nuclear weapons on Afghanistan, which would be an extreme and unprecedented action.

Trump's statement was met with a sharp response from the Afghan government, which called for clarification and asserted that Afghanistan's fate could not be determined by foreign heads of state. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office issued a statement emphasizing the need for common interests and mutual respect in the relationship between the two countries.

Trump's comments also drew criticism on social media, with Afghans and analysts condemning his remarks. The statement highlighted the sensitivity of any comments made by a US president regarding Afghanistan, which are often interpreted as official policy declarations.

While Trump's statement caused alarm, it is important to note that it is unlikely that the US would pursue such an extreme option. Afghanistan does not pose an existential threat to the US, and using nuclear weapons would result in the deaths of millions of innocent civilians.

The most probable explanation for Trump's statement is that he was speaking off-the-cuff, which was not uncommon during his presidency. Nevertheless, his comments about potentially killing millions during an Oval Office meeting were disturbing to many.

The US has used Afghanistan as a testing ground for powerful weapons, such as the MOAB, raising ethical concerns about the impact on civilians

The US has used Afghanistan as a testing ground for powerful weapons

The US has used Afghanistan as a testing ground for powerful weapons, including the "mother of all bombs" (MOAB), a 21,600-pound bomb with a mile-long radius and the capacity for massive devastation. The MOAB was first tested in 2003 and used in Afghanistan in 2017, marking its first use in combat. The MOAB is the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in battle.

The US has also tested other weapons in Afghanistan, including the XM-25, a semi-automatic weapon that can be programmed to explode at the precise location of the enemy.

Ethical concerns about the impact on civilians

The use of the MOAB in Afghanistan has raised ethical concerns about the impact on civilians. Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticised the mission, tweeting:

> This is not the war on terror but the inhuman and most brutal misuse of our country as [a] testing ground for new and dangerous weapons.

The MOAB has a capacity for massive devastation, including obliteration, crushed internal organs, bleeding ears and loss of hearing, massive shockwaves, and huge environmental and infrastructure damage. The blast from the bomb is so powerful that it can be felt a mile away.

The use of the MOAB and other weapons in Afghanistan has also led to concerns about the US's commitment to minimising civilian casualties. While the US has stated that it took precautions to avoid civilian casualties, critics have argued that the nature of these weapons means that civilian casualties are inevitable.

The use of powerful weapons in Afghanistan has also been criticised for perpetuating a cycle of violence that has lasted for over 20 years and killed hundreds of thousands of Afghans.

The US has used Afghanistan as a testing ground for powerful weapons, and this has raised ethical concerns about the impact on civilians. The use of weapons such as the MOAB has been criticised for causing massive devastation and perpetuating a cycle of violence, with devastating consequences for the people of Afghanistan.

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