Fox News Chris Wallace really gave it to Ted Cruz
Fox News’ Chris Wallace pretty much ridiculed Ted Cruz’s irresponsible statement about carpet bombing ISIS in Syria using a general’s words. Wallace started out by playing Cruz’s comments.
We will have a president who would make clear we will utterly destroy ISIS. … We will carpet bomb them into oblivion.
Chris Wallace pointed out that carpet bombing ISIS could never work because ISIS is embedded within civilian populations. in major cities. Wallace then put up a graphic and read a statement by General Robert Scales. The general was the former head of the U.S. War College. He was quoted in a New York Times editorial titled “Ted ‘Carpet-Bomb’ Cruz” that said the following:
Mr. Cruz is a lawyer and a foreign-policy neophyte. Anyone with any understanding of military strategy knows that “carpet-bombing” is a term used by amateurs trying to sound tough. Indiscriminate bombing has never been a military strategy, and it would be senseless in an age of “smart” weaponry and precise targeting.
In Syria and Iraq, mass bombing would kill hundreds of innocent civilians and fuel radicalization. That’s why military leaders utter the term “carpet-bomb” only while laughing at Mr. Cruz.
“That’s just another one of those phrases that people with no military experience throw around,” chuckled retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, a military historian and former commandant of the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa.
The only thing close to “carpet-bombing” was Operation Arc Light in 1965, in which two or three B-52 Stratofortresses bombed sections of Vietnam to support tactical operations on the ground, not to flatten the place. “America has never carpet-bombed anyone at any time because that’s not our doctrine,” said General Scales.
Ted Cruz came back with a rather belligerent answer. “Well look, I will apologize to no one with how vigorous I will be winning the war on terror defeating radical Islamic terrorism.” Ted Cruz said. “We will start by having a president willing to acknowledge our enemy. Say it by its name which President Obama and Hillary Clinton refuse to do.”
Ted Cruz then went into a convoluted monologue about what carpet bombing means. He tried to use Dessert Storm as an example. He then started itemizing each part of the military that is smaller. As a Conservative one would believe smaller and more effective is what he would be aspiring for.
Chris Wallace then schooled the “lawyer and foreign-policy neophyte.” “There is a big difference,” said Wallace. “First of all, military people would tell you we didn’t carpet bomb in Kuwait in the Gulf War. We did precision striking. In addition if I may, the Iraqi army was all massed by itself in the Kuwaiti desert. We are now talking about ISIS, soldiers, they are not massed. They are embedded in Mosul. They are embedded in Raqqa with civilians.”
In effect Ted Cruz is talking about effecting a massacre. He would likely be committing a war crime if he carpet bombed an entire city to kill a few terrorists.
It was evident Chris Wallace was disgusted with Ted Cruz’s rhetoric. He said as much when Cruz responded to his fact based statement. “I would like to ask you about some of your votes and not the rhetoric,” Chris Wallace exasperatedly said before Cruz responded with more statements highlighting his willful ignorance.