![\"Ted](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/credit-abcnews.jpg\")
<\/a>Ted Cruz, like every oth\u00ader pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial hope\u00adful, vows to destroy the Islam\u00adic State. Should we believe him? [Cred\u00adit: ABC<\/span> News]<\/p><\/div>Ted Cruz says we don\u2019t have a dog<\/a> in the Syr\u00adi\u00adan civ\u00adil war. He nev\u00ader\u00adthe\u00adless wants to car\u00adpet bomb<\/a> the civ\u00adil war\u2019s lead\u00ading bel\u00adliger\u00adent, the Islam\u00adic State (IS<\/span>). Which just might kill some dogs.\n To be fair, Cruz doesn\u2019t seem to know what car\u00adpet bomb\u00ading involves, assert\u00ading that he wouldn\u2019t car\u00adpet bomb a city<\/a>. The Ency\u00adclo\u00adpe\u00addia of War defines<\/a> it as \u201cdrop\u00adping mas\u00adsive amounts of bombs on an ene\u00admy\u2019s indus\u00adtri\u00adal and pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion cen\u00adters [to] over\u00adwhelm their abil\u00adi\u00adty to resist, break their morale, and force them to sur\u00adren\u00adder.\u201d The notion that bomb\u00ading alone could van\u00adquish a deter\u00admined ene\u00admy has been dis\u00adcred\u00adit\u00aded since the 1970s. To suc\u00adceed, an air cam\u00adpaign requires ground troops. \u201cSat\u00adu\u00adra\u00adtion bomb\u00ading failed to inde\u00adpen\u00addent\u00adly destroy an ene\u00admy\u2019s will or means to resist,\u201d accord\u00ading to the work, \u201cdespite the best efforts of pilots and gen\u00ader\u00adals, and politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n Politi\u00adcians like Cruz fan\u00adta\u00adsize about dis\u00adpatch\u00ading an ene\u00admy from a safe dis\u00adtance. His vow to find out \u201cif sand can glow in the dark<\/a>\u201d \u2013 sug\u00adgest\u00ading he would nuke the IS<\/span> \u2013 packs rhetor\u00adi\u00adcal mus\u00adcle onto a frail strate\u00adgic frame.<\/p>\n Cruz\u2019s bel\u00adli\u00adcos\u00adi\u00adty seems like pure polit\u00adi\u00adcal cal\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtion, an exer\u00adcise in Clin\u00adton\u00adian tri\u00adan\u00adgu\u00adla\u00adtion. He wants us to believe that he is chan\u00adnel\u00ading<\/a> Ronald Rea\u00adgan (and for\u00admer Rea\u00adgan advis\u00ader Jeanne Kirk\u00adpatrick) and that he is nei\u00adther a neo\u00adcon\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive like Mar\u00adco Rubio nor a revi\u00adsion\u00adist lib\u00ader\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan like Rand Paul. He goes to great lengths to dis\u00adtance him\u00adself from both, tout\u00ading his tough\u00adness with\u00adout detail\u00ading his own posi\u00adtion, and hop\u00ading we don\u2019t notice that he wants both to stay out of a civ\u00adil war and anni\u00adhi\u00adlate one of its factions.<\/p>\n His cam\u00adpaign web\u00adsite<\/a> makes only a pass\u00ading ref\u00ader\u00adence to the Islam\u00adic State, while ignor\u00ading al Qae\u00adda, Syr\u00adia and Iraq entire\u00adly. It focus\u00ades instead on Iran (which he doesn\u2019t like) and Israel (which he does).<\/p>\n In pub\u00adlic state\u00adments, includ\u00ading a recent speech<\/a> at the Her\u00aditage Foun\u00adda\u00adtion, Cruz tells us that he, like Rubio (and Pres\u00adi\u00addent Oba\u00adma, for that mat\u00adter), wants to \u201chunt down and kill the ter\u00adror\u00adists\u201d and \u201cutter\u00adly destroy\u201d the Islam\u00adic State. He parts com\u00adpa\u00adny with Rubio when it comes to Amer\u00adi\u00adcan-inspired regime change in Iraq, Libya and Syr\u00adia (though he has declared him\u00adself in favor of regime change in Iran<\/a>). Cruz believes<\/a> that \u201cunder\u00admin\u00ading gov\u00adern\u00adments in the Mid\u00addle East [has] helped rad\u00adi\u00adcal Islamist terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n With the excep\u00adtion of the surge, vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly every\u00adthing we\u2019ve tried \u2013 from inva\u00adsions and assas\u00adsi\u00adna\u00adtions to bomb\u00ading sor\u00adties and drone strikes \u2014 seems to have helped rad\u00adi\u00adcal Islamist ter\u00adror\u00adists. The Tal\u00adiban has sur\u00advived 14 years of war, recent\u00adly killing<\/a> six Amer\u00adi\u00adcans in Afghanistan. Despite Pres\u00adi\u00addent Obama\u2019s boast, al Qae\u00adda has not been destroyed or the IS<\/span> con\u00adtained. Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram ter\u00adror\u00adize Africa, Hezbol\u00adlah effec\u00adtive\u00adly rules Lebanon and has expand\u00aded its oper\u00ada\u00adtions in Syr\u00adia, Hamas still afflicts Israel, the PKK<\/span> is alive and well in Turkey, and ter\u00adror\u00adists have car\u00adried out attacks in Amer\u00adi\u00adcan and Euro\u00adpean cities.<\/p>\n All of which calls for reflec\u00adtion on what our inter\u00adests are in the region and how best to advance them. Instead, Cruz prof\u00adfers a com\u00adic book ver\u00adsion of U.S. mil\u00adi\u00adtary inter\u00adven\u00adtion, in which he can car\u00adpet bomb the IS<\/span> with\u00adout dam\u00adag\u00ading cities and irra\u00addi\u00adate deserts with\u00adout killing civilians.<\/p>\n He went fur\u00adther in the Her\u00aditage Foun\u00adda\u00adtion speech<\/a>,<\/span> say\u00ading that he would con\u00adsid\u00ader \u201cusing what\u00adev\u00ader ground troops are nec\u00ades\u00adsary to kill the [IS<\/span>] ter\u00adror\u00adists and then come home.\u201d Such wish\u00adful think\u00ading could be excused in 2001, when we believed that U.S. ground forces, backed by airstrikes, could quick\u00adly extin\u00adguish the Tal\u00adiban. Years of bit\u00adter expe\u00adri\u00adence should have rid us of that illu\u00adsion and taught us to think clear\u00adly about the chal\u00adlenges our sol\u00addiers will con\u00adfront and the poten\u00adtial unin\u00adtend\u00aded con\u00adse\u00adquences of mil\u00adi\u00adtary suc\u00adcess. (\u201cMis\u00adsion accomplished.\u201d)<\/p>\n That begins with a clear-eyed assess\u00adment of the facts on the ground. Syr\u00adia and Iraq are now legal fic\u00adtions. Dam\u00adas\u00adcus and Bagh\u00addad con\u00adtrol only por\u00adtions of the land with\u00adin their bor\u00adders, which are pock\u00admarked by enclaves con\u00adtrolled by al Qae\u00adda and its off\u00adshoots, IS<\/span>, the Army of Islam, Kurds, Turk\u00admen and oth\u00aders who reject the legit\u00adi\u00adma\u00adcy of their respec\u00adtive cen\u00adtral gov\u00adern\u00adments. Both Assad and Iraqi Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter Haider al Aba\u00addi are despised by vast seg\u00adments of their own pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion. Nei\u00adther can field an army of even min\u00adi\u00admal com\u00adpe\u00adtence. Both lean heav\u00adi\u00adly on for\u00adeign pow\u00aders \u2013 Iran, Rus\u00adsia and the U.S. \u2013 and Shi\u00adite fanat\u00adics to do their fighting.<\/p>\n The Ira\u00adni\u00adans are back\u00ading Assad (with Russ\u00adian help), desta\u00adbi\u00adliz\u00ading Iraq, arm\u00ading Hezbol\u00adlah and stir\u00adring eth\u00adnic strife. It\u2019s been a good year for the aya\u00adtol\u00adlahs. The U.S. has agreed to lift eco\u00adnom\u00adic sanc\u00adtions against them and legit\u00adimize their nuclear enrich\u00adment pro\u00adgram. Amer\u00adi\u00adcan and Russ\u00adian jets are bomb\u00ading Iran\u2019s Sun\u00adni foes, help\u00ading the Quds Force, Shi\u00adite mili\u00adtias and Hezbol\u00adlah secure pock\u00adets of ter\u00adri\u00adto\u00adry with\u00adin Syr\u00adia and Iraq. Tehran is now far along in build\u00ading an arc of Shi\u00adite con\u00adtrol that runs from Per\u00adsia through Bagh\u00addad and Dam\u00adas\u00adcus and on to Beirut. Iran, with U.S. acqui\u00ades\u00adcence, is now at the nego\u00adti\u00adat\u00ading table with world lead\u00aders, and has every rea\u00adson to expect that the \u201cinter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty\u201d will legit\u00adimize its new acquisitions.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s ascen\u00addan\u00adcy has pro\u00advoked and inten\u00adsi\u00adfied the Sun\u00adni reac\u00adtion. The Islam\u00adic State itself is part of that reac\u00adtion to Iran\u2019s region\u00adal ambi\u00adtions, some\u00adthing that seems lost on the Pres\u00adi\u00addent and his would-be suc\u00adces\u00adsors. Mar\u00adco Rubio, for exam\u00adple, would have us imag\u00adine into exis\u00adtence an army of Sun\u00adni Arabs<\/a> that will rise up at our insti\u00adga\u00adtion and van\u00adquish their core\u00adli\u00adgion\u00adists in the Islam\u00adic State.<\/p>\n But the Islam\u00adic State \u2014 along with al Qae\u00adda, al Nus\u00adra and a dozen oth\u00ader jihadist enti\u00adties \u2013 is<\/em><\/strong> the Arab Sun\u00adni army.<\/p>\n The extent to which this \u201carmy\u201d draws fund\u00ading from Saud\u00adis and oth\u00ader Gulf States is dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to assess<\/a>. But it is under\u00adstand\u00adable that Sun\u00adni rulers, though they may find the IS<\/span> threat\u00aden\u00ading, are less trou\u00adbled by it than we are. They, like the Israelis, fear the Shi\u00adite theoc\u00adra\u00adcy of Iran more than they do the Islam\u00adic State. That\u2019s why the Saud\u00adis have gone to war against Tehran-backed Houthis in Yemen, while con\u00adtribut\u00ading only a token effort to the U.S.-led \u201ccoali\u00adtion\u201d against the Islam\u00adic State. Like all the play\u00aders in this tox\u00adic caul\u00addron of eth\u00adnic and reli\u00adgious tur\u00admoil, each fac\u00adtion has its own aims and none of them shares ours.<\/p>\n It would help if we could artic\u00adu\u00adlate our aims. Destroy\u00ading ISIS<\/span> has become a meme that every Pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial hope\u00adful from Rand Paul<\/a> to Bernie Sanders<\/a> feels oblig\u00aded to repeat. Rarely does a can\u00addi\u00addate hon\u00adest\u00adly address what it will take to achieve that objec\u00adtive, much less about what new malig\u00adnan\u00adcy might arise in the Islam\u00adic State\u2019s place. If the IS<\/span> were to van\u00adish tomor\u00adrow, it wouldn\u2019t be replaced by a mul\u00adti-eth\u00adnic, reli\u00adgious\u00adly plu\u00adral\u00adis\u00adtic com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty devot\u00aded to tol\u00ader\u00adance and com\u00admit\u00adted to peace. Nor is it clear that the new enti\u00adty would be con\u00adge\u00adnial to U.S. interests.<\/p>\n Cruz\u2019s for\u00adeign pol\u00adi\u00adcy has been hailed<\/a> in some con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive cir\u00adcles as a return to Rea\u00adganesque prin\u00adci\u00adples. Per\u00adhaps it is. But we won\u2019t know that until he spells out his views with clar\u00adi\u00adty and can\u00addor. Until then, Cruz appears to be engag\u00ading less in an exer\u00adcise of prin\u00adci\u00adple than of politics.<\/p>\n