Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pulled no punches in his stinging rebuke of President Joe Biden's response to Iranian-back proxies that killed three American troops in the Middle East last week.
"People are not afraid of us," Graham told "Fox News Sunday." "This idea of hitting hundreds of targets — that doesn't matter. The only Iranian we killed in Syria or Iraq is some dumb*** that doesn't know to get out of the way.
"We gave them a week's notice, so if there's another round of strikes coming, I hope they really will hurt Iran in their pocketbook or kill their leadership because if you don't, nothing changes."
Graham hailed former President Donald Trump's targeted strike of former Islamic Revolutionary Guard's Quds force Commander Qassem Soleimani, whom he called the Gen. George Patton or Gen. Dwight Eisenhower of Iran, when proxies were almost stoking aggression on shipping vessels in the Middle East.
"Here's what works: Hit something they value," Graham said. "Soleimani was killed with a single strike. He was their Gen. Patton and Eisenhower. There was nothing left but a smoldering car and a ring finger. It worked. They got back in a box.
"They were the weakest they've been, and now they're the strongest and most provocative."
Graham lamented Biden's foreign policy weakness in the Middle East leaving "our American troops are in harm's way."
"If the goal is to deter Iran, you're failing miserably," Graham continued. "If the goal is to protect American troops, you're not achieving your goal.
"If you've convinced Iran you don't want a wider war, they believe you. Oh, I don't want a war with you. They got the message. They're not afraid of us. They were afraid of Trump."
Graham, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a veteran of the Gulf War, was adamant Biden does not need the approval of Congress to protect "our troops in the field."
"Every commander in chief can protect our troops," he continued. "They're over there to prevent ISIS from coming back. They're just not over there on vacation. They're not hanging out in the Mideast. They're there to make sure that ISIS and al-Qaida do not attack us here.
"Iran is trying to drive us out of the Mideast and the response were giving is inadequate to the task. They do not believe or fear we will hit what matters most to them: Their oil infrastructure or their leadership."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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