Having first met the late Sen. Lindsey Graham when he was a newly elected congressman in the Gingrich Revolution of 1994, conservatives knew this man from South Carolina was one of a kind. There was no doubt he was a Reaganite on foreign policy and had America’s enemies in his sights. From the get-go, his national security judgment and acumen were spot on.
Graham’s belief in American leadership in the world was grounded in a conservative and hard-nosed view that disengagement invites danger and that American leadership abroad is a direct investment in security at home. Within the Republican Party, his position often set the terms of the debate. As one of the Senate’s foremost national security leaders, he innately understood that military might alone cannot keep America safe and that it also takes diplomacy and international assistance to help protect our nation and keep our service members out of harm’s way.
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So, it is no coincidence that Graham’s final trip on Earth was to Ukraine to visit the war-torn country that was brutally invaded by America’s longtime enemy. His 10th trip there had him meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and touring a defense-tech company in SkyFall, which is the largest drone manufacturer in the country. He reviewed rows of “Vampire” attack drones that the Russians fear most. He was pictured with a black P1-SUN interceptor drone.
CONGRESS MUST HONOR LINDSEY GRAHAM’S LEGACY BY PASSING THIS BILL
During the Cold War, we all believed Ronald Reagan’s “peace through strength” strategy to combat Russia. It was the only way to deal with our fiercest enemy. Reagan knew the Russians would not respect or acquiesce to any country that tried to appease them.
Reagan stood up to the Soviet Union and pushed for advancements in technology and weapons to combat our archenemy. Reagan’s vision for the “Star Wars” missile interceptor technology, while scoffed at by critics, is still being developed in the Trump era.
Ukraine’s drone capabilities are a 21st-century advancement in military technology, and most of the world has been stunned to see Ukraine defending itself and striking Russia with impact and precision. The recent NATO summit in Turkey, attended by President Donald Trump and Graham, was upbeat and enthusiastic in support of Zelensky’s efforts.
Over the years, the battles with Russia have not been just about military prowess but also about a drive for worldwide domination. This struggle has been philosophical and ideological. While Russia now claims to be a federal republic, Russian President Vladimir Putin has driven it back to an authoritarian, power-hungry nation-state that invades other countries.
The communist Marxist ideology of the 20th century is pressing for gains in the West. What we thought was killed in the Cold War is still alive and well in the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America, which wishes to tear down Western democratic values and allow the state to control the lives of every American.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a speech at the State Department’s Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism conference on Wednesday, explained it well: “The world that [communism] envisions is a world without courage, a world without creativity or ambition, a world without heroes or glory or great causes to strive towards, a world without miracles, without men who rise above the rest to do incredible and extraordinary things.”
Make no mistake, Putin is fully on board with this world.
Graham understood this. Over the years, some conservatives opposed military intervention in areas where the U.S. appeared to have few stakes and raised questions about exit strategies from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. After the Russia-Ukraine war started, some on the Right were wary. Sadly, some in the conservative movement were duped by Putin’s propaganda machine into believing that he can actually be trusted to make a deal or might even be the good guy.
The world now knows that Putin never had any intention of making a deal with Trump or ending the war. In fact, Putin chose July 3, the eve of our nation’s 250th birthday, to visit the troops on the front line of the war, doubling down on his in-your-face tactics to press ahead with his ambitions.
When the billions of dollars in Ukraine aid packages came to a vote in Congress, conservatives rightly wanted receipts, wanted to know how our hard-earned tax dollars were being spent.
Now we know. Those dollars went to help develop the most advanced military drone technology in the world. Americans will now benefit from this technology in future warfare, as we already are in the conflict with Iran.
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As Graham said in his final remark to the press, “We’re sending a message to the world that the United States will stand with Ukraine — that their fight is our fight, and both their freedom and ours are at stake.”
Rest in peace, Lindsey!
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell is the president of the Council for National Policy and a longtime conservative leader. He served as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission and served on the board of the International Republican Institute with Sen. Graham.
