Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday praised President Trump for ordering a U.S. military raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“This is a moment where we should all be proud of our American military and our intelligence community. This is a moment where President Trump’s worst critics should say, ‘well done Mr. President,’” Graham told reporters at the White House.
The GOP senator also complemented Trump for “coming up with a model in Syria that we probably should have done in Iraq,” calling the president’s strategy a “game changer.” {mosads}
Graham had criticized Trump in recent weeks over the president’s decision to remove U.S. troops from northern Syria, where they had been fighting alongside Kurdish forces against ISIS.
But after al-Baghdadi’s death was announced, Graham said on Sunday that he’s “very encouraged” by what he sees in Syria.
“When it comes to what’s happening in Syria, I like what I see,” Graham said, adding that his position and Trump’s are “really not that far off.”
“We really don’t need a bunch of Americans in the safe zone. The international community should do that. But some American forces deployed with the[Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)] to make sure the oil does not ever fall back in the hands of ISIS and make sure Iran is not the biggest winner,” he added.
Graham said securing oil “is a really smart idea,” adding that its sales helped ISIS survive so long.
“I want to congratulate the president for making sure the oil revenues never fall into the hands of the bad guys, and the way he secured this — this a win-win,” the senator said. “The SDF will get more money if we can modernize the oil fields. We’re not going over there to enrich America, we’re over there to help our allies and deny our enemy resources that will allow them to get stronger over time, and finally, and this is ok, to lower the cost to us.”
Trump said during his announcement of the ISIS leader’s death that some congressional leader had not been notified of the raid before his public announcement out of fear of “leaks.” He said Graham and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) had been told before the operation was complete.