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Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
Posted on 02/01/2016 11:31:37 AM PST by Nachum
Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the US commander in charge of the coalition fighting Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria, said Monday that carpet bombing the terrorists would be "inconsistent with our values."
The remark is seen as being aimed at Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).
In December, Cruz pledged to "utterly destroy ISIS," and vowed: "We will carpet-bomb them into oblivion." He even hinted at the use of nuclear weapons, saying: "I don't know if sand can glow in the dark, but we're going to find out."
After being asked to explain why carpet bombing would not be an effective strategy against ISIS, MacFarland told reporters the US was "bound by the laws of armed conflict."
"We're the United States of America. We have a set of guiding principles," he said. "Indiscriminate bombing, where we don't care if we're killing innocents or combatants, is just inconsistent with our values."
MacFarland said that carpet bombing is precisely what Russia is accused of doing in its own air campaign in Syria, in support of Bashar al-Assad.
He added: "Right now we have the moral high ground, and I think that's where we need to stay."
MacFarland claimed the anti-ISIS campaign is making progress in both Iraq and Syria, and that the jihadists had lost about 40% of the territory they had held.
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland.... unfit to lead ... endangers America with his effeminate political view overriding his duty to country....
read how General Sherman looked at war....and executed it
look at Germany and Japan.... WWII
WAR IS ALL ABOUT BREAKING THINGS AND KILLING POEPLE
UNTIL THEY LOSE THE WILL TO FIGHT AND SURRENDER
that is what ISIS is doing..... FIRE WITH FIRE
Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland better retire before President Trump takes office.
Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
If I remember correctly, the “Highway of Death†in Iraq/Kuwait, was from ground fire by the US Army, no actual aerial attack or “carpet bombing” was involved.
wiki says US and Canadian planes made the deadly strafing runs. Colon Bowel had a fainting spell watching the videos and called a stop....
North, you have hit the nail on the head: We (Americans) have generally tried to minimize it [collateral damage].
That is how I read what LTG McFarland is saying. We didn’t “carpet bomb” cities in France, Belgium, Holland, and Italy (after it joined the Allies). We did use “carpet bombing” for the Normandy breakout, Operation Cobra, but that was on the front line and where only Germans were on the ground. Yes I know there were bombs that hit our own troops.
That is not in debated. When I was trained as a targeteer, collateral damage is a factor and is accepted in many cases.
Seems no one here realizes just how inefficient and wasteful carpet bombing is in these day of JDAMS and precision guided munitions. Why in the world would anyone want to use a full bombay filled with 90,000 lbs of munitions, 80% of which miss target and are wasted, when a handful of 500ls JDAMS could have got the job done
I'm just glad this new kinder, gentler Obama general was not around during WW2.
I hate German.
MacFarland had better have a conversation with General Curtis LeMay, as the ghost from Carpet Bombing past!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_LeMay
Idiot Compassion rears its blockhead again!
Yes. There's a difference between accepted or tolerated, and actively sought. Historically, I think we (USA) have a very good record.
The 0bama Regime ROE are insane, though.
What would Patton do with a general like this?
Speak for yourself there, pajama boy!
Genghis Khan had very exact rules of how to deal with his enemies that he had conquered. They were brutal but scientifically applied brutality. Its purpose was to instill fear in those that may resist, gain allies and support from those that will not resist.
Brutality for the sake of brutality is counterproductive. Selective applied brutality works. It is effective. We carpet bombed the Iraqi soldiers in the desert during the first Iraq war. We bombed them for weeks. When we finally invaded, they could not surrender fast enough. They did not want anymore carpet bombing.
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