U.S. Military Conducts Major Operations In Afghanistan And Syria

NBC News: “The United States Fired 59 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles At Syria Overnight In Response To What It Believes Was A Chemical Weapons Attack.” On April 7, the U.S. Navy “fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria overnight in response to what it believes was a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 100 people.” According to NBC, the Navy targeted an airfield that U.S. officials believe “was used by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad to carry out a strike on Tuesday involving chemical weapons.” From the April 7 report:

The United States fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria overnight in response to what it believes was a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 100 people.

[...]

The missiles were launched from the USS Ross and the USS Porter in the Mediterranean Sea toward Shayrat Airfield. American officials believe it was used by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad to carry out a strike on Tuesday involving chemical weapons that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people. [NBC News, 4/7/17]

CNN: “The US Military Dropped America’s Most Powerful Non-Nuclear Bomb On ISIS Targets In Afghanistan.” On April 14, the United States military “dropped America's most powerful non-nuclear bomb on ISIS targets in Afghanistan,” the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB). According to CNN, the United States military targeted “an ISIS cave and tunnel complex and personnel in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province, a remote area in the country's east which borders Pakistan.” From the April 14 report:

The US military dropped America's most powerful non-nuclear bomb on ISIS targets in Afghanistan Thursday, the first time this type of weapon has been used in battle, according to US officials.



A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), nicknamed the “mother of all bombs,” was dropped at 7:32 p.m. local time, according to four US military officials with direct knowledge of the mission. A MOAB is a 30-foot-long, 21,600-pound, GPS-guided munition.

[...]

Officials said the target was an ISIS cave and tunnel complex and personnel in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province, a remote area in the country's east which borders Pakistan. [CNN.com, 4/14/17]

Cable News Hosted Significantly More Military Guests To Discuss The Operations Than Those With Foreign Service Backgrounds

In The 24 Hours After The Cruise Missile Strikes In Syria, Cable News Hosted Three Times As Many Guests With Military Backgrounds As Guests With Foreign Service Backgrounds. Media Matters analyzed the 24 hours of cable news coverage after news broke that the U.S. military had launched cruise missiles targeting a Syrian regime air base, finding that cable news networks hosted guests with military backgrounds for 99 appearances, compared to 33 appearances from guests with national security or intelligence backgrounds, 32 with diplomatic or foreign service backgrounds, and 19 with nongovernmental organization (NGO) backgrounds.

In The 24 Hours After The U.S. Military Dropped The MOAB, Cable News Hosted More Than Four Times As Many Guests With Military Backgrounds As Guests With Foreign Service Or NGO Backgrounds. In the 24 hours of cable news coverage after the first reports that the U.S. military had deployed the GBU-43 bomb in Afghanistan, cable news outlets interviewed guests with military backgrounds for 53 appearances, compared to 10 appearances from guests with national security or intelligence backgrounds, 11 with diplomatic or foreign service backgrounds, and one with an NGO background.

Methodology

Media Matters searched Snapstream for coverage of U.S. military actions in Syria for 24 hours starting on April 6, 2017, after the first reports of the missile strike on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, using the terms: Syria, missiles, Tomahawk, Airbase, air base. Media Matters searched Snapstream for coverage of U.S. military actions in Afghanistan for 24 hours starting on April 13, 2017, on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC using the terms: (MOAB, Afghanistan, “GBU-43”, “massive ordnance air blast”, “mother of all bombs”).

We defined “military” as any individual who served in the United States armed forces, “national security” as any individual who was appointed to, or spent a career in, non-defense intelligence or national security agencies, “foreign service” as any individual who was appointed to, or spent a career in, the foreign service or at the State Department, and “NGO” as any non-military individual representing a nonprofit, independent organization.