Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Q. Brown, commander of U.S. Air Force Central Command, said Thursday that Sen. Ted Cruz’s plan to “carpet bomb” the Islamic State makes no sense.
“Carpet bombing is not effective for the operation we’re actually executing, because we’re using precision guided munitions on a regular basis,” Brown told reporters in a call from Qatar when asked about Cruz’s recommendation.
“Daesh doesn’t necessarily mask itself where you could actually even use that kind of tactic,” he said, using one of the administration’s preferred terms for the Islamic State. “That’s a tactic that is really not effective for the fight we’re actually executing today.”
“Carpet bombing is not effective, and on top of that, as you look at the law of armed conflict and us trying to minimize civilian casualties, carpet bombing is just, in my opinion, not a way to go,” he concluded.
Cruz said in December that as president, his goal would be to “utterly destroy” the Islamic State, and said carpet bombing was his preferred technique.
“We will carpet bomb them into oblivion,” he said. “I don’t know if sand can glow in the dark, but we’re going to find out.”
