Saying the Paris attacks had changed the landscape, Sen. Lindsey Graham on Thursday offered the latest proposal to do what Congress has been reluctant to do: Formally authorize a military campaign against the Islamic State.
Graham’s open-ended proposal comes closer than any previous one to an outright declaration of war against the extremist group, which controls parts of Iraq and Syria, is expanding to Libya and has taken credit for the Nov. 13 attacks in the French capital that killed at least 130 people. It would place no limits on time, geography or means used against the group.
“It is my firm belief that the United States should be at war with [the Islamic State] on the same terms that they are at war with us,” said the South Carolina Republican, who’s also seeking his party’s presidential nomination.
“I look forward to this debate. If you don’t agree with what I’m doing, fine. Just vote on it.”
Congressional leaders have been unwilling to take up any authorization for a war most Republicans and some Democrats believe President Obama won’t fight, and the White House insists it has all the legal authority it needs to continue its current approach of aerial bombardment and the limited use of advisers and special operations troops in Iraq and Syria. Also, many Democrats would prefer to put the administration on a tighter leash than Obama has proposed and Republicans would accept.
But since the Paris attacks, the White House has ramped up its criticism of lawmakers for not passing an authorization, in response to Republican criticism of its strategy.
“For more than a year, the president of the United States has been calling on the United States Congress to pass an authorization to use military force, where they could be more specific about what they view as an appropriate response to the [Islamic State] campaign,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Wednesday. “And what’s Congress done? Nothing. They haven’t done anything.”
Graham, who previously had argued that a formal authorization was not necessary to ramp up the military campaign, said the Paris attacks and the likelihood a similar attack could occur in the United States had changed his mind, and those of others in Congress as well, about whether one is needed.
“After Paris I’ve seen a sense of urgency that even I didn’t have,” he said.
