Okay, so people have heard Cruz's proposal to "Carpet Bomb" Daesh, and some people actually like it. The problem is, Daesh, like Al Qaeda, does warfare asymmetrically. What that means in lamens terms is as follows:
1. There are no battle lines. Enemy combatants blend in with civilians, engage in sneak attacks, and lay traps. You don't ever meet an opposing army, per se, you deal with groups who come out of nowhere and start shooting suddenly.
2. They can start shooting from homes, markets, or recreational spots, even hospitals. You can not just fire into such crowds either, in the hopes of stopping such an attack before it starts. In fact, on that note, we lead to point 3.
3. Everywhere is a potential battle front. It can happen anywhere, any time.
Points 1 and 2 mean that if you were to carpet bomb, you'd kill WAY MORE innocents than enemy combatants/terrorists. They'd get so much more recruits because, although Daesh are indisputably evil themselves, they would legitimately be able to call us bad.
Point 3 means that even if we were to ignore that, which would be absolutely insane, we'd have to carpet bomb the ENTIRE MIDEAST to do it effectively. We tried doing that with North Vietnam, a MUCH SMALLER AREA, and we FAILED MISERABLY. I don't think we'd succeed now. Not to mention the monetary costs.
And sure, Cruz may back down from this proposal, but the fact that he proposed it in the first place should be a good indication that he does not understand how to make the calls that a leader needs to be making.
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