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 ...
Flatten Raqqa!
The list, Ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
Of course it is against your values. You and your boss value isis lives more than Christians or any other group.
The “high moral” ground is not a tactic for fighting or winning a war the last time I checked.
Especially against an enemy that has shown its “morals” are derived from satan.
You’re Fired!
Someone is angling for a fourth star.
And that was the unlearned lesson from the Boer Wars: What to do when your enemy doesn’t follow the accepted rules of war? Western Civ never learned and it continues to haunt us.
Yeah. We have to blow them to bits humanely.
Yet another “Perfumed Prince” in the general officer ranks.
General meals on wheels
Then just call it Linoleum Bombing.
Throw him out and get George Patton. Or, any of the top level officers Zero shoved out.
Fire MacFarland now! There is no way that man could win a war if one broke out today .. oh ... the upper mil must consist of certified wusses, mincing minions and “perfumed princes”.
Hope they get a boot up the rear end instead.
“Army Lt. Gen. Pansy, the US commander in charge of the coalition fighting Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria”
Fixed it!
Really, General? Do you place your artillery in defilade when you're occupying the moral high ground?
Hmmm ... Dresden ... Tokyo ... Gen. Le May, Col. Tibbets, and many others would tend to disagree.
We ENDED that war in VICTORY and SAVED many lives that would have been lost in protracted urban warfare. If we want to end this war decisively, we need a modern-day version of Gen. Le May, not these 'perfumed princes'.
It wasn't inconsistent with them 70 years ago.
What an ignorant horse’s butt! We used carpet bombing in WW II several times. We opened Operation Cobra (Normandy breakout) with it.
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