Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) criticized Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s job performance over the weekend, saying that his actions over the last two months, or a lack thereof, prove to him that Austin is not the right man for the job.
Graham made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Dana Bash as U.S. forces have been attacked 75+ times over the last several weeks and the Iranian-backed terrorists behind the attacks have faced little response.
Bash asked Graham about remarks Austin had recently made about Israel needing to reduce the number of alleged civilian casualties inside Gaza as they look to eliminate the terrorists responsible for the October 7 massacre.
“He said, if you drive civilians into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat, which he’s saying that civilian casualties could create even more enemies,” Bash said. “Does he have a point?”
Graham responded: “No. He’s so naive. I mean, I have just lost all confidence in this guy.”
“How about focusing on protecting our soldiers, men and women, in Syria and Iraq? Strategic defeat would be inflaming the Palestinians? They’re already inflamed,” he continued. “They’re taught from the time they’re born to hate the Jews and to kill them. They’re taught math by, if you have 10 Jews, you kill six, how many would you have left?”
“It’s like, this is a tranquil population only inflamed after Israel goes in to defend itself is really naive. This is a radicalized population. I don’t want to kill innocent people, but Israel is fighting not just Hamas, but the infrastructure around Hamas,” he continued. “Look what happened to the Israeli hostages when they were presented to the Palestinian population. It’s beyond naive. Strategic failure is letting Hamas stand.”
“This war has shown to me he doesn’t understand,” Graham later added. “If we were attacked like this, which we were on 9/11, if somebody called for us within two months to have a cease-fire against al Qaeda, that would have been — we’d have laughed them out of town. We’d have run them out of town. Secretary Austin is telling Israel things that are impossible to achieve.”
WATCH:
Sec. Austin is wrong to suggest that strategic defeat for Israel would be inflaming the Palestinians.
Strategic defeat is letting Hamas stand. pic.twitter.com/5xilJSH9Ia
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 3, 2023