Sen. Lindsey Graham believes it could take "blood on American streets" before President Barack Obama is willing to take more decisive steps to stop the Islamic State's reign of terror around the world.
"Probably so. Number one, nobody in the world really cares what Obama says anymore because he's so weak in the eyes of our enemies and so unreliable in the eyes of our friends," Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said Thursday in an interview on
Newsmax TV's "The Hard Line" with Ed Berliner.
"The bottom line is, he's the guy that said ISIL is the JV team … He's the guy that drew a red line against [Syrian President Bashar] Assad [and] Assad crossed it, stronger than ever. He's the guy that said, 'I decimated al-Qaida.'
"In what point and time do we realize that he has no idea what he's doing? The strategy is not working. He doesn't understand radical Islam. He won't even utter the words and America's going to get attacked if he doesn't change his strategy."
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Graham is introducing a bill in the House that, if passed, will allow the U.S. to attack the Islamic State anywhere without a timetable.
"I've been pushing a plan for two years that will lead to the destruction of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. If we don't follow my plan, we're going to get hit here at home," Graham said.
"The president of the United States undersells the threat, oversells our successes, he doesn't explain to the American people the threat we face.
"The only way to make America safe is going on the ground in Syria and Iraq with American troops that are part of a regional force and destroy the caliphate. You can fight this war in their backyard or our backyard. Those are your two choices after Paris. What I've been saying makes more sense to more people."
Graham says the United States must go on the defensive and "hit them over there before they hit us here."
"Don't be afraid of the fight, don't look at Muslims and mosques as the problem. Look at ISIL as the problem. Some mosques are the problem, but look at ISIL as a threat to the homeland, form a regional army — we'll be part of that regional force — and go in on the ground and destroy them.
"Take the caliphate away from ISIL is the only way we stay safe. Go in on the ground like we did after al-Qaida attacked us. I want the same [for] ISIL we had after al-Qaida attacked us on 9/11. Nothing more, nothing less."
Graham remains woefully low in the GOP presidential polls. According to an average of polling data compiled by
RealClearPolitics, Graham was in second to last place, ahead of only Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. But Jindal pulled the plug on his campaign earlier this week.
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