According to new statistics from the Air Force, the US dropped more bombs on Afghanistan in September than they had in any other month since October 2010. 948 munitions were used, up from 783, itself the peak of a summer that started with just 441 used.



Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed that this was to be expected, saying President Trump had ordered the military to “pick up response” since scrapping the peace talks with the Taliban.



While an escalation of the war was expected after Trump declared the peace process dead, the reality is that the US had been steadily escalating the war, particularly the air war, all year long, even as they were talking with the Taliban, and reaching an actual, available peace deal.



Ironically, President Trump justified scrapping the peace process on the grounds that the Taliban stepped up their attacks and killed a US soldier, but the US forces had been doing that the whole time, killing hundreds of Taliban fighters in the meantime.



The expectation is that the US will continue escalation going forward, because even though the peace deal remains on offer, escalation has been the go-to response for years, and officials don’t seem to have much interest in the pretense of ending that.



Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz