Graham Campaign Press Release - Politico: Lindsey Graham: My Foreign Policy Path is Tough But Necessary

Lindsey Graham: My foreign policy path is tough but necessary

By Katie Glueck

July 8, 2015

In his most extensive policy address to date as a presidential candidate, Lindsey Graham on Wednesday laid out a detailed vision for a muscular national security agenda — the animating issue of his campaign — as he also chided his own party over immigration reform.

During an appearance at the Atlantic Council that lasted well over an hour, the South Carolina senator came out swinging against the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton and in particular, Senate Republican colleague and 2016 rival Rand Paul, criticizing them over what he characterized as a naive and dangerous approach to foreign policy.

"Everyone running except Rand Paul could get a better [nuclear] deal with the Iranians" than Obama could, he said, one of several hits he landed on the libertarian-leaning senator.

Graham, for his part, sought to cast himself as a solutions-oriented candidate prepared with alternatives on issues including ISIS, Iran and Syria. The senator detailed the U.S. troop levels he would want to see in Iraq (10,000), Afghanistan (9,800) and Syria (about 10,000, as part of a regional force) and warned darkly that he wanted to see a good deal with Iran over its nuclear ambitions — something he doubted President Barack Obama could achieve. If a military conflict was necessary, he said, Tehran would lose.

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Graham is also one of the GOP's biggest proponents of immigration reform, an issue he touched on toward the end of his appearance when he asserted that he didn't need a "lecture" on the issue from either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Graham went on to skewer Trump, the controversial real estate magnate and GOP presidential candidate, over recent inflammatory comments he has made about immigrants.

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