Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday warned that another “9/11” is on the way from Syria, unless the Obama administration radically increases its military efforts against Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria.
“You’re only going to win this war if you go on offense,” the Republican senator from South Carolina and fledgling presidential candidate said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
{mosads}“There’s a 9/11 coming and it’s coming from Syria if we don’t disrupt their operations coming from Syria.”
Graham, who has long pushed for a more muscular foreign policy from the Obama administration, warned that the coordinated terror attacks across Paris on Friday night were just a preview of what was to come in the U.S. The only way to stop the violence, he said, was for the U.S. to lead an international armed push against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“Without American boots on the ground in Syria and Iraq, we’re going to be hit at home,” Graham warned.
In response to the Friday attacks, which killed 129 people, some analysts have speculated whether France will invoke Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which declares that an attack on one member is an attack on all. Invoking the article could lead to a dramatically stepped-up military campaign against ISIS.
“I hope the French will invoke Article 5,” Graham said on Sunday. “They should — the world should be at war with ISIL.”
In a separate appearance on the CNN show, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said that the decision was up to France alone.
“The French will make a decision about whether to invoke Article 5,” Rhodes said. “We stand ready to do whatever is necessary.”