Alternative Options

Whatever the political stance taken on the conduct of air strikes in Iraq and Syria, if they are going to be performed in the same fashion and to the same degree that they have been for almost three years now, reducing any risk posed to civilians is a must.

- Beth Stevenson

Despite the use of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast 21600 pounds/lb (9800 kilogram/kg) weapon, or ‘Mother of All Bombs’ as it was nicknamed by the media, by the US Air Force (USAF) to attack caves suspected to be used by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) in the Achin district of eastern Afghanistan on 13th April, most air strikes against the Islamist militia have tended to involve far smaller air-delivered weapons. This weapon was designed by the US Air Force Research Laboratory, with Dynetics as the systems integrator. On a daily basis air strikes are carried out by a coalition of nations under US command organised under the Combined Joint Task Force Operation INHERENT RESOLVE (CJTF-OIR). The raison d’être of CJTF-OIR is to: “militarily defeat (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) in the Combined Joint Operations Area (Iraq and Syria) in order to enable whole-of-coalition governmental actions to increase regional stability,” according to the mission’s website.