Retired Air Force General Michael Hayden, the former head of the CIA and the National Security Agency, compared conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to engaging in casual sex.
“The reliance on air power has all of the attraction of casual sex: It seems to offer gratification but with very little commitment,” Hayden said according to US News & World Report. “We need to be wary of a strategy that puts emphasis on air power and air power alone.”
Hayden’s comments come two days after President Barack Obama in a prime time speech vowed “a steady, relentless effort” to battle ISIS, the group that recently publicized beheading two U.S. journalists.
Hayden stressed that just using air power against ISIS might not be enough to fully defeat it.
“We need to be wary of a strategy that puts emphasis on air power and air power alone,” Hayden said. “The sooner we take the fight into Syria against [ISIS], the better of we’ll be.”
(H/t: The Hill)
