Bush slams Cruz’s ‘chest-pounding’ on ISIS

Jeb Bush on Thursday dismissed Ted Cruz’s call to carpet bomb the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as “chest-pounding” and said his rivals had no realistic foreign policy.

“’Carpet-bombing’ is just chest-pounding,” Bush said, according to The Washington Post. “Why would we go back to the 1960s when we have precision weaponry?

{mosads}“This is not a video game war. … This has to be reality-based,” he added.

“We need to create a strategy and seek authorization to destroy ISIS. We need to do this with a coalition and in coordination with [Sunni Muslim] fighters on the ground.”

Bush also ridiculed Cruz and GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump for thinking Syrian leader Bashar Assad can stay in power.

“Assad has to go first because he is the person who is a serial murderer,” he said. “You cannot get a Sunni force without dealing with Assad.”

“Assad is not going to take out ISIS,” Bush continued. “Russia’s interest and Assad’s interest are not in taking out ISIS. This is the absurdity of [Cruz and Trump’s] talk.”

Russia, a close ally of Assad’s, has also begun carrying out airstrikes in Syria. But U.S. officials say those strikes are aimed at propping up Assad and not targeting ISIS.

Bush also rebuked fellow candidate Marco Rubio for suggesting he has the most foreign policy experience in the GOP field.

“Let me ask you, what has [Rubio] accomplished?” he asked. “What has he done in his life that makes you think he can make the tough calls, develop strategy? Maybe he can, but I don’t know.”

ISIS remains a top national security concern following two major terror attacks late last year. The radical Islamist organization claimed it carried out an attack in Paris and inspired another one in San Bernardino, Calif.