NewsTalk: Dropping the “Mother of All Bombs” — What Does It Mean?

I joined Pat Kenny on Dublin NewsTalk on Friday to assess the significance of the Trump Administration using the “Mother of All Bombs”, the US’s largest non-nuclear device, in an attack on the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan.

The discussion considers the motives for the bombing, both in and beyond Afghanistan, and who is in control of US foreign and military policy.

See TrumpWatch, Day 84: Why was “Mother of All Bombs” Dropped on Afghanistan?

Our chat is preceded by a report from NewsTalk’s Richard Chambers in Texas, including an interview with a former special forces operative.

The Pentagon has had this bomb in development since 2003, and here was an opportunity to battle-test it. And it is within the wider context of the Pentagon’s expanded authority to carry out airstrikes, whether it’s drone strikes, whether it’s smaller bomb, or whether it’s potentially one….

I think it’s dangerous to play connect the dots with this as an example for North Korea, because that will inflame an already dangerous situation.