Tom Brokaw Questions the Timing of Obama's Decision to Bomb ISIS in Syria

NBC stalwart Tom Brokaw appeared on Ronan Farrow’s MSNBC show today and appeared puzzled.

Brokaw recalled that in previous engagements with enemies on the ground in Iraq, bombing from altitude can look devastating but ultimately has never produced victory.

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Brokaw questioned why President Barack Obama waited so long to start the airstrikes that began in Syria last night. Bombing them now, Brokaw says, serves as a recruiting tool — for the Islamic State.

Take a look.

“People remember that night when we went after Saddam Hussein and thought we would all but level the city. the next day his sunni army and the people who were loyal to him emerge and began to fight back. So bombing from 20,000 feet or 10,000 feet has an impact and it looks worse to us than people on the ground. That’s one issue we have to deal with,” Brokaw said.

“It’s not pinpoint killing, but massive destruction hoping that you will interdict the command and control apparatus. They have been able to go into the hills in some way and have this uncanny ability to reinvent themselves also. If we strike them so hard, that goes out into the wider Islamic community. Inevitably, young men say I’m going to join the forces and it becomes a recruiting tool for ISIS. It’s a tricky piece. What most people say is we got started way too late. This moving out of Syria and into Iraq for sometime. The time to hit them was when they were on the move before they got themselves positioned in Iraq and had taken over.”

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