Day 82–85: Trump Bombs Syria, Afghanistan

If you’ve been living under a rock, it might be time to inform you that the United States recently dropped THE MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS on ISIS fighters in Afghanistan. President (and noted wordsmith) Donald Trump has wasted little time enacting his plan to “bomb the shit” out of ISIS, dropping the largest non-nuclear weapon in America’s arsenal.

Before all the “ignored for too long,” “it’s not that I don’t like the gays, it’s just that I don’t want to be around them” Trump supporters start blasting Willie Nelson and knocking back 40’s of Budweiser like a Californian in a kombucha café, let’s put this in perspective.

The bomb, which was deployed over an ISIS-controlled area in Afghanistan that the U.S. Special Forces were having trouble infiltrating, is designed not to cause massive casualties, but rather to destroy the vast mine system that ISIS had built below ground. The bomb weighs over 21,000 pounds and is roughly half the size of the smallest nuclear weapon ever built. It detonates in the air, sends shock waves underground and leaves an enormous cloud in the air.

The true impact of the weapon seems to be mainly psychological; the bomb is incredibly intimidating. This is likely a message to ISIS: Donald Trump ain’t fuckin around.

However, the week hasn’t all been champagne and roses for The Donald. For the third time in the past month, an American-led airstrike has killed civilians. A few days ago one in Tabqah, Syria killed 18 civilians. It’s not immediately clear if the U.S. is responsible for the casualties, though the strike was technically carried out by a U.S. coalition member.

Trump’s plan in Syria remains unclear, but he is proving to be unburdened by any alleged ties to Russia, whose government openly supports Syria’s current leader, Assad. He and crisis communications expert Sean Spicer have made it clear that Assad’s chemical weapons attacks on civilians will not be met with silence from the U.S.