Retired U.S. Air Force General Dave Deptula, a former commander of the air operations center for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2001, said the GBU-43 was developed to replace the 15,000-pound "Daisy Cutter" bomb he employed there. Senior American intelligence officials told NBC News that the United States may consider preemptive strikes for North Korea if it knows the country is preparing to conduct a nuclear test.
If the USA is trying to send a political message with the use of the MOAB, Harmer said, "It's a sign of overkill". No way. It's impossible not to see this as something that would just appeal to Trump.
Dempsey also downplayed the symbolism of the military's decision to use this particular munition. TRADE WITH JAPAN The United States is pushing for trade to be a key issue in top-level economic talks with Japan, a person involved in the talks tells Reuters, an unwelcome development for Tokyo, which is seeking to fend off US pressure to reduce the bilateral trade imbalance.
Trump might now be trying to send a message that "the next four years will not be like the last eight years", Pregent said. The costs of continuing down this road could be high indeed, not just in terms of USA standing in the world, but also in terms of the safety and security of the United States and its allies.
"For the first time really as president, he talked about worldwide norms, global rules, about America's role in enforcing justice in the world", Zakaria said of Trump's remarks explaining the military action. Trump designated Yemen and Somalia as an "active areas of hostilities" in March, which allows the Pentagon to aggressively target al-Qaida without White House approval.
The Syrian strike may have actually strengthened the Assad regime, demonstrating that it can absorb a U.S. strike without skipping a beat, as it demonstrated by launching bombing raids from the airfield targeted by cruise missiles the day after that strike. That response came just two days after the chemical weapons attack.
But the Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, or MOAB, as it is also known, had never been used in combat until a U.S. MC-130 aircraft dropped one on the Achin district of Nangarhar, bordering Pakistan, on Thursday.
There is evidence for both hypotheses in the way Trump now talks about military action. "We have the greatest military in the world and they've done a job as usual, so we have given them total authorization".
US VP Pence assures Japan: America is with you '100 per cent'
Pence told reporters Monday that Trump was hopeful China would use its "extraordinary levers" to pressure the North to abandon its weapons program.
Donald Trump, who spent much of the 2016 campaign preaching a foreign policy gospel of neo-isolationism, seems to have discovered in short order that to keep "America First" means standing up for American interests and, yes, even American values, around the globe.
Reuters reported that although the Trump administration has clearly voiced its stance on North Korea's nuclear program, government officials are still more geared toward enacting harsher economic sanctions on the country instead of a full-blown military attack.
He said the bomb was used at around 7 p.m. local time and described the device as "a large, powerful and accurately delivered weapon". "We didn't have a target that required it before".
Trump is also issuing warnings to adversaries, Caputo said. "I dropped the biggest conventional bomb in the history of war".
Clarke said it's unlikely the recent strikes were launched with the intention of sending a message, but that that's an added advantage.
Also, the USA has been expressing concerns over North Koreas escalated efforts to develop its nuclear weapons program and Washington has not ruled out military action to halt it. He said we're gonna take 'em out.
Want to sound off and share what you think about this? This makes them much more risky. "If you're in a hurry, then you do it this way".
Comments