President Barack Obama was "not very fluent" in the language of force, Sen. Lindsey Graham told "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday, even though the president told world leaders at a United Nations gathering Sept. 24 that force was the only language terrorists understood.
The latest questions about Obama's commitment to combating terrorists come amid a report released by the Government Accountability Institute that said the president only attended 42.1 percent of his daily intelligence briefings since taking office.
Yet, Obama claimed it was intelligence officials who "underestimated" the threat posed by the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) during an interview Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes."
"The president says the only thing terrorists understand is the language of force. He's not very fluent in that language. All he talks about is what we won't do. You can't destroy ISIL, which is an army, without an army engaging ISIL," the South Carolina Republican said.
Graham, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, suggested Congress should hold hearings when it reconvenes to determine if failures to acknowledge the threat posed by ISIS were due to a lapse in intelligence or because of inattention by Obama.
"Let's have a hearing when we get back in session, call the intel people in and say, 'OK, who's to blame here? Did you fail to tell our president about the rise of ISIS/ISIL? Did you tell him anything about the degrading of the Iraqi army?'" he asked.
Graham questioned "how could anybody miss" that ISIS was seizing territory in Iraq and Syria, adding that he and Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain had issued warnings about the terrorist organization last year.
"Sen. McCain and I said in October of 2013, 'Watch out for ISIS. They're filling in the vacuum created by not supporting the Free Syrian Army,'" he said.
It was evident when former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "gutted that Iraqi army of any leadership," the result was an inability of their forces to fight ISIS, Graham said, adding Obama's decision to not arm the Free Syrian Army created a vacuum that "has been filled by ISIL and other terrorist organizations."
Destroying ISIS in Syria would not be possible without the use of U.S. troops, Graham said, because Arab armies wouldn't engage the terrorists there "without substantial American help." In Iraq, he admonished Obama to "rebuild the Iraqi army" as well as arm the Kurdish Peshmurga forces.
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