Actually, they are immensely effective when used as ground support. B-52 and carrier strikes erased whole NVA brigades at An Loc in 1972. Being a chopper crewman, I loved watching them obliterate enemy anti-aircraft emplacements.

The problem now is that they are used as stand alones to avoid casualties. Americans are so casualty averse that the military will try anything to avoid them.

That’s fine, if it works, but air and missile strikes, like Trump’s grandstanding in Syria, are useless for anything other than PR.