Sen. Lindsey Graham has been making the rounds since Trump and Israel launched their attack on Iran, heaping praise on Dear Leader and pretending everything is going to go wonderfully, rather than admit they just opened up a can of worms with no idea what comes next with the chaos they unleashed on the region.
It was more of the same on this Sunday’s Meet the Press, with Graham getting extremely testy with host Kristen Welker when she pressed him on how we make sure the regime that replaces the one we just took out isn’t worse.
WELKER: Senator history tells us just how complicated regime change is. we saw that when Saddam Hussein was ousted, and the terror threat and group moved in. How will the United States make sure that the next Iranian government isn’t worse than the current regime?
GRAHAM: It’s not our job to pick the next Iranian government. I don’t remember being attacked by Iraq any time, you know, in the past. Iraq is complicated, but, you know, we have a relationship with Iraq.
It’s up to Iran to pick your leader. It’s not my job. It’s not President Trump’s job. We’re not going to occupy the country. We’re going give the people of Iran a chance to do something they’ve never had before, chart their own destiny.
We’re going to take away from any future regime the ability, any future government, the ability to have a ballistic missile program, a nuclear program, or support terrorism. That’s what we’re going to do.
And if out of this comes a new government that we can do business with, great. But having Iran no longer the state sponsor of terrorism opens up historic opportunities. It’s the one irritant in the region. It’s the one impediment to real peace.
We’ll never get to where we want to go as long as Iran is the state, largest state sponsor of terrorism. And I’m here to tell you, the largest state sponsor of terrorism, the mothership of terrorism is sinking, and the captain is dead, and a lot of good things are going to follow.
WELKER: Senator, let’s talk about the strategy moving forward. In a social media post Sunday, president Trump wrote this quote, “Hopefully the IRGC and police will peacefully merge with the Iranian patriots and work together as a unit to bring back the country to the greatness it deserves.”
Is hope the plan for the future of Iran?
GRAHAM: No, the future of Iran is going to be determined by the Iranian people. The new Iran, whatever it is, whether it’s a cleric or a representative of democracy, our goal is to make sure it cannot become, again, the largest state sponsor of terrorism. That’s a win for us.
WELKER: But is there a plan to make sure that happens, Senator? Is there a plan? Does the president have a plan to guarantee that that happens?
GRAHAM: No, it’s not his job or my job to do this. How many times do have to tell you? Our job is to make sure Iran is no longer the largest state sponsor of terrorism, to help the people, reconstruct a new government, no boots on the ground.
We don’t own… you know this idea, you break it, you own it, I don’t buy that one bit. It’s in America’s interest to make sure the Ayatollah is dead. He’s dead. It’s in America’s interest to make sure that Iran can no longer be the largest state sponsor of terrorism. We’re close.
Once the people decide what they want to do next, I don’t mind helping them. But I know what they’re not going to be allowed to do next — regenerate the largest state sponsor of terrorism. I’m going to focus on having Iran off the map as the largest state sponsor of terrorism and see if we can build a new new Mideast.
Sorry pal, but the United States, Israel and Trump absolutely “own this,” and so do you for being one of the ones constantly pushing Trump to attack Iran. Shame on you.
