Blake Hall
The United States, particularly the U.S. Air Force, is dropping bombs and missiles on ISIS (Islamic State) in Iraq and Syria like a bodily function these days, and that’s beginning to be a problem.
Contrary to popular American military belief, there is a finite number of these huge explosives, and we’re beginning to see the bottom of the barrel when it comes to our collective stock — according to records obtained by USA TODAY.
It’s caused the U.S. to shop for more from depots around the globe, as the Pentagon shakes the nation’s piggybank for more dough to buy the damn things.
It’s been estimated that the USAF alone has dropped more than 20,000 munitions thus far. And the airstrikes are only becoming greater in frequency.
“We’re in the business of killing terrorists, and business is good,” said U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee in an official statement. “We need to replenish our munitions stock. Weapons take years to produce from the day the contract is assigned until they roll off the production line.”
If the first thing Lee stated (in bold) sounds familiar, it’s because you have a very good taste in cinema.
It’s an ode to a line of dialogue from the 2009 German-American war film Inglourious Basterds, written and directed as a revenge fantasy against Hitler and the Nazis by none other than the pied piper of Hollywood himself, Quentin Tarantino.
According to USA TODAY, U.S. Army General Lloyd Austin estimated that the airstrikes targeting ISIS has killed about 23,000 militant fighters, although the terror organization’s recruitment is still pulling in new blood at significant and worrisome numbers.