Lindsey Graham Ripped From Left and Right Over Call to Invade Iranian Island

Screenshot via Fox News

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sparked a bevy of anger and mockery on Sunday when he told Fox host Shannon Bream that the U.S. should take over Iran’s Kharg Island, arguing, “We did Iwo Jima. We can do this.”

“So here’s what I tell President Trump: keep it up for a few more weeks, take Kharg Island where all of the resources they have to produce oil, control that island, let this regime die on a vine,” Graham, one of the most hawkish members of the Senate, said on Fox News Sunday.

“Is this going to, though, take Karg Island? Is it going to involve U.S. troops on the ground?” Bream pushed back, adding:

Let me just read you something from The Atlantic. They did an assessment on that. They say, “U.S. troops may well take Karg Island. We believe in their ability to do so, but only to endure ballistic missile strikes, drone attacks, petrochemical smoke, all without a reliable means of obtaining logistical support. The result could be a grinding war of attrition.” They talk about how far away they would be from resupply.

“I’m sort of tired of all this armchair quarterbacking, and this has been an amazing military operation. God bless the fallen. No, listen, I trust the Marines, not that guy. I trust the DOD. We got two Marine Expeditionary Units sailing to this island. We did Iwo Jima. We can do this,” Graham replied, adding:

The Marines—my money’s always on the Marines. I don’t know if you take the island or you blockade the island, but I know this: the day we control that island, this regime, this terrorist regime, has been weakened. It will die on a vine. And here’s what I want to do. I want to get with Chris. I want to sprint to peace. As the war winds down, I want peace to ramp up.

The reason we don’t have Saudi Arabia and Israel making peace is October 7, 2023—Iran, through Hamas, attacked Israel, stopping normalization. I want to take up and complete what Biden started. As soon as we get Iran defanged so they can never do another October 7th, I want to start up peace talks between Saudi and Israel. This year, I want a peace deal between Saudi and Israel normalizing, ending the Arab-Israeli conflict. It’s been going on for 2,000 years—this year, and you can’t do it with a lethal Iran. So we’re weeks away from this Iranian regime not having the capability to stop peace.

Many critics of Graham’s comments were quick to point out the mass casualties U.S. troops suffered during the campaigns to take Iwo Jima during World War II.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) shared Graham’s comments and added, “We lost 7000 Marines and 20,000 were wounded.”

Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) hit back, “No, Lindsey, ‘we’ didn’t do Iwo Jima. Almost 7,000 Americans who died and 19,000 who were wounded did Iwo Jima. And they did it to fight for our freedom—with the support of Congress and the American people.”

Below are some additional reactions:

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