Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, presidential candidate Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) attacked President Obama for his poor performance in facing the crucial developments in the Middle East, suggesting the administration has “surrendered on two fronts” in the region.
Graham said, “Here’s what the president has done basically, he’s surrendered on two fronts. His goal of degrading and destroying ISIS — this strategy will not work. At the end of the day, Barack Obama has turned out to be a completely incompetent commander-in-chief. He doesn’t listen to sound military advice, leaving Iraq too soon led to the rise of ISIS. And John Kerry is a completely delusional man. What we’re about to accomplish is to turn Syria over to Russia and Iran, and to make sure that we never destroy ISIS on Obama’s watch, and pass this mess on to the next president.”
Graham predicted, “I see Russia and Iran mopping the floor with Obama and Kerry. Russia is all in with Iran to support Assad. President Obama said Assad must go. The Russians say no, he will stay… [The Russians] have never been stronger since 1973. Assad is winning. We’re losing… Is this the change we are hoping for? Iran is just slapping Obama and Kerry in the face.”
Another presidential candidate, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Sunday told CBS’ Face the Nation regarding the Obama administration’s disclosure of the deployment of some 50 special operations troops on the ground in northern Syria in the coming weeks: “I don’t have a problem with the tactics of it. And the numbers might even have to be larger at some point,” however, “I think the broader issue is: what is the strategy?”
Sen. Graham said about the same issue: “Sending 50 American special forces into Syria in the eyes of ISIS shows that Obama is not ‘all in,’ it is a sign of weakness to ISIS. They have sized Obama up, and they think he’s weak.”