Senator Lindsey Graham was a great American patriot. He was a freedom fighter. It was a return to an older Republican Party that eschewed isolationism and understood that America must never retreat from its friends, its allies, or the cause of liberty.
He was a great friend of Israel at a time when far too many American politicians are turning away from Israel. And even retreat into a hateful and sectarian anti-Semitism, which today afflicts the socialist-leaning Democratic Party, and even, I say with regret, infiltrates certain extremist elements of the Republican Party.
On this and most matters concerning foreign policy, Graham knew the difference between right and wrong, right and wrong. He died on Saturday. But he would not have been satisfied with Sunday’s events in the Middle East.
Here’s how President Trump, a dear friend of Lindsey Graham, reported this morning on Fox & Friends: “So, something that nobody knows. They had an 11-hour meeting yesterday. Everything lasts 11 hours with these guys. You know, you can’t get a sentence done in an hour and a minute. It should last a minute. And it was all agreed to yesterday.”
Mr. Trump added: “And they leave the room and they call back and say we need to make some changes. They need to make some changes. We’re not going to make any changes. They’re always changing. You know, they’re just professional negotiators. That’s all they are. I don’t even call them good at it. They didn’t get anything from me.”
If I understand the timeline correctly here, yesterday, which is Sunday, according to Mr. Trump, there was an 11-hour meeting with Iran of course, and everything was agreed. Presumably, this means opening the Strait of Hormuz, denuclearizing Iran, and removing enriched uranium from that country. Then the Iranians come out of the room shortly after, call back and say we need to make some changes.
Next thing you know – it’s still yesterday, Sunday – the Iranians hit an oil tanker in the strait, then bombed Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Six of our Gulf allies.
Presumably these decisions were made within an hour or two, after that 11 hour meeting agreement which turned out to be a complete lie. And of course that’s what the Iranians do, they lie. This is the nature of their immoral, horrible, barbaric regime, close to Nazism.
Now, in response to that, if I understand correctly the timeline reported by Mr. Trump, the Commander in Chief decided that the United States would become the custodian of the Strait of Hormuz and reinstate the naval blockade of Iranian ports for Iranian ships. And later that day, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social that he would deliver a speech to the nation on Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. One way or another, it seems that the American response to the escalation of the war in Iran should be greater. We might hear about it Thursday night, but not tonight.
And besides, in addition to Iran’s repeated violations of the ceasefire and memorandum of understanding, bombing oil tankers, our Gulf allies, and U.S. military bases, our satellite imagery has discovered that Iran appears to be using the roughly $5 billion in oil sales it was prematurely granted to rebuild its nuclear facilities at Pickaxe and the Parchin Mountains.
Certainly, we have bombarded them heavily in recent days. And that’s important. And be sure that when you cross a red line with Mr. Trump, you will pay the price. Yet I think the late Senator Graham would like even bigger strikes against Iran right now, tonight.
And maybe those bigger strikes are indeed coming. I hope so. I have known Lindsey over the years. I loved his incredibly hilarious sense of humor. And the good work he did as budget chairman on a big, beautiful bill last year.
Moreover, Senator Ron Johnson, supporter of the free market and supply, could well become the next Senate budget chairman. Wouldn’t that be something. Graham also defended Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings in September 2018. He wasn’t much of an economics guy, and I never agreed with him and his gang of eight bipartisan attempts to solve immigration, climate change, or other domestic issues. Yet when it comes to standing up for America, its allies, and the freedom that made this country the greatest country in history, I tip my hat to the late Senator Lindsey Graham.
