Graham: Don't Rip Obama on ISIS Without Offering Alternative

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says his fellow GOP presidential candidates shouldn't be critical of President Barack Obama's military response to the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) since they haven't offered any alternatives.

"Everybody says Obama's not doing this, Obama's not doing that. Well, it's not enough to criticize him. What are you going to do beyond dropping bombs?" Graham, who has made defeating ISIS the theme of his campaign, said Thursday on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper."

"And if I hear one more time that we're going to send the Kurds to go clean up the whole world, that's just ridiculous," Graham said. "The Kurdish military is not an expeditionary force. If you send them into Syria to destroy ISIL, you'd start a war with Turkey."

Graham insists American ground forces are the only way to defeat the terrorist insurgents who have taken over parts of Syria and Iraq after the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq.

"If you don't have a ground component of which America will have to be part of, you're never going to destroy ISIL and they're going to hit us here," Graham said.

Related Stories:

• 6 Best Moments From CNN Reagan Library Showdown
• Lindsey Graham Leads With Quips: Going to 'Drink More'