Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called on President Trump on Tuesday to join Israel in striking the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon.
The appeal came as the IDF struck Hezbollah targets and sent troops across the border into southern Lebanon. The moves followed Hezbollah’s violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by firing rockets toward Israel and joining Iran’s attacks during the ongoing US-Israeli war.
Speaking to reporters and quoted by CBS, Graham said, "I'm calling on President Trump today: Join Israel to attack Hezbollah. Avenge the Marines," referring to a 1993 suicide bombing of a US barracks in Lebanon that killed hundreds of American service members, an attack the United States has blamed on Hezbollah.
Graham, a close ally of Trump and a hardliner on Iran, also defended the president’s military campaign against Iran. He argued the Iranian regime is in its "death throes" and said that "the demise of this regime is at hand."
Responding to criticism from Democrats who argue Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States, Graham said, "The idea that you're going to let a homicidal maniac get to the imminent stage, to me, is misplaced."
Graham has long taken a tough line on Iran and spoke out against a deal between the US and Iran, arguing that true peace in the Middle East would only be possible once the Iranian regime falls.