America dropped 26,171 bombs in 2016

The United States dropped 26,171 bombs in 2016, which is 3,027 more than it dropped in 2015. Most of the 2016 bombs — 24,287, to be precise — were dropped in Iraq and Syria as part of the coalition effort to defeat the Islamic State.

An additional 1,337 bombs were dropped in Afghanistan, marking a nearly 50 percent increase compared to the previous year. The bombing rate increased in Libya as well, where nearly 500 U.S. bombs were dropped, and another 34 bombs were dropped in Yemen plus 14 in Somalia and three in Pakistan. These numbers come from a Council on Foreign Relations analysis of Defense Department data.

Despite dropping so many thousands of bombs in seven countries in 2016, the United States is officially not at war in any of them. Read more about this Orwellian situation from The Week's Damon Linker.

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