[en] The field ionization and Coulomb explosion of diatomic carbon monoxide interacting with intense femtosecond laser pulses was systematically investigated by using a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The kinetic energy release (KER) in a Coulomb explosion causes the atomic ions to exhibit a double-peak structure. The values of KER calculated using a two-step model were found to agree well with the measured ones. The distributions of atomic ions are highly anisotropic, having a maximum along the laser polarization axis and a minimum perpendicular to it. In contrast to the atomic ions, the parent ion CO⁺ exhibits a strong isotropic angular distribution. Suppression of ionization was observed for circularly polarized pulses, indicating that the dynamic alignment is responsible for the observed anisotropic angular distribution of the atomic ions