No. of Recommendations: 5
Lindsey Graham
You’re scaring the children.
The story of how the Iran war came to be over the past few months is essentially the story of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. On his own volition, he flew around the Middle East—to Israel, to the Gulf States—during congressional recesses to speak with foreign intelligence officials, give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tips on how to persuade Trump to attack, and to backchannel with the Saudi crown prince. When he wasn’t in the Middle East, he was typically at Mar-a-Lago or Trump’s golf clubs, or on Air Force One, sucking up to Trump. His campaign to sell the president has been bombastic and loud, pure hustle. It has been successful.
With his confidence, though, we have to wonder how long he can continue flying this close to the sun. He’s been spending roughly 27 hours a day on Fox News and seems to think—maybe he’s right!—that he’s directing U.S. foreign policy. He’s been pressuring Gulf States to get more directly involved in the war, and said of Saudi Arabia that he was willing to do a mutual defense agreement with them under which “we would go to war for you” if “you’re attacked by Iran.” Discussing Iran’s regime, he talks about how “we’re going to blow the hell out of these people.” He’s urging the president to go after Lebanon next while already drawing up plans for Cuba after that. He has threatened Spain. Sen. Graham should enjoy his influence while he has it. Should all of this intervention turn into a fiasco, Trump has a very obvious candidate to throw under the bus.
Slate
