In Tomahawk And MOAB Terror We Trust

Those who live by inflicting terror will one day perish by it.

A false religion gains adherents by representing immense power, inspiring great awe, promising absolute security, and demanding unquestioning and sacrificial investment.

American militarism is about all four, as epitomized by its two showcase bombings last week. The first was an attack on a Syrian air base by 59 Tomahawk missiles, and the second a first-time-ever use of an 11-ton "Mother Of All Bombs" on an ISIS-occupied tunnel complex in Afghanistan.

Each strike was designed to have as much of a psychological impact as a strategic one. The launch of the Tomahawks, each carrying a half ton of explosives and valued at roughly $1.4 million (multiply that by 59, though only 23 hit their intended target), resulted in a lot of chaos and a few human casualties, but the airfield targeted was again operational within days. But the $16 million MOAB, launched from a large cargo plane, is reported to have killed some 90 ISIS fighters and inflicted untold damage on their hideout (one originally funded in part by the CIA when we were supporting Ben Ladin in his fight against the USSR). I have no idea what it cost to deliver this payload, but over $300 million was invested in the development of this most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever, one we finally got to test-target in Afghanistan.

Most of our current military actions no longer involve the use of soldiers with rifles and bayonets, but the massive deployment of "bombs bursting in air" on targets all over Syria and Iraq, each of them representing unimaginable acts of terror. And just last week, allied forces dropped over 29 ton of explosives on another air base, with far more total TNT than in a single MOAB. In addition, an attack on another target caused the death of 18 Syrian allied forces. The price we are paying and the toll we and others are inflicting are beyond comprehensible.

What most concerns me is not just that the US Commander-in-Chief, who campaigned against more military involvement abroad, now appears to be ever more willing to exercise it on a massive scale. My greater concern is how the media and the American public are so prone to support him in doing so, praising him for finally being presidential by using terror bombing to strike fear into our foes.

These are the kinds of warlike attitudes and actions that could take the world straight toward Armageddon.