One View on Use of Airpower Against ISIL

For John, BLUF:  One should have a strategy, but also an operational plan.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The reliance on air power has all of the attraction of casual sex: It seems to offer gratification but with very little commitment. We need to be wary of a strategy that puts emphasis on air power and air power alone.

This was a recent quip by retired US Air Force Four Star Michael Hayden.♠  It has been noted by Law Professor Ann Althouse in her eponymous blog and by Law Professor Glenn Reynolds, in his Instapundit Blog.  It was in Mediaite and at least one other news publication.

However, attribution may go to Professor Eliot Cohen of Johns Hopkins University, back in 1990.

Mediaite closes its short item with these words:

That being said, Hayden still thinks airstrikes are better than nothing, an argument one could also make about casual sex.

Not!

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Back in the mid-1980s I was stationed with then Major Michael Hayden.  He is a very insightful and intelligent officer.