Sen. Lindsey Graham reiterated his belief American troops belong in Syria.
The South Carolina Republican, who is considering a 2016 White House Bid, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that 10,000 American “boots on the ground” are needed in Syria to stop the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State are helping, he said, but do not do enough.
“The president has the right goal to degrade and destroy [the Islamic State], he but doesn’t have the right strategy,” Graham said.
Graham stressed that the U.S. cannot win the fight against the Islamic State alone.
“You are going to need a regional force — Saudi [Arabia], Turkey, the entire region — putting together an army with American people embedded, special forces, intel folks, forward air controllers, to go in on the ground and not only dislodge them from Syria, but hold the territory,” he said, adding, “and you can’t do that until you deal with [Syrian leader Bashar] Assad.”
Though Graham reassured viewers that the U.S. is closely watching the roughly 4,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq who have Western passports, “we’re being overwhelmed,” he said.
“Syria and Iraq combined are the best platforms to launch an attack on United States I have seen since 9/11,” he said.
And if the U.S. and its allies don’t get serious about getting rid of the Islamic State? “You will see a Paris on steroids here pretty soon if you don’t disrupt this organization and take the fight to them on the ground,” Graham said, referring to the fatal terrorist attack on the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
