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Graham Campaign Press Release - Graham Discusses Foreign Policy on MSNBC's Morning Joe

September 23, 2015


A President Graham Would "Find A Ground Component That Would Destroy ISIL And Put Military Pressure On Assad To Leave."

(Morning Joe, "Graham: Next 9/11 likely to come from Syria," MSNBC, 09/23/15)

Alexandria, VA - Today, Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe where he discussed Russia moving into Syria militarily, the implications that will come of it, how he would stand up to Putin as president, and make it clear to Russia that Assad must go.

Graham: "...It's In Our National Security Interest To Destroy ISIL."

(Morning Joe, "Graham: Next 9/11 likely to come from Syria," MSNBC, 09/23/15)

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Graham On Russians Moving Into Syria: "The Next 9/11 Is Most Likely To Come From Syria. Russian Involvement... Means The War Continues."

"The Russians supporting Assad, Joe, means the war never ends. It's a great recruiting opportunity for ISIL, because Assad is an Alawite aligned with Iran. So, when the Russians double down on Assad, it means this war continues and Syria continues to fall apart... The next 9/11 is most likely to come from Syria. So, Russian involvement on behalf of Assad means he doesn't go, means the war continues."

On Implications From Russian Involvement: "It Means [Assad] Doesn't Go. It Means That The Radical Sunni Islamists Will Have A Great Recruiting Opportunity."

"...It means that the radical Sunni Islamists will have a great recruiting opportunity. The Syrian people want two things. They want Assad out, their brutal dictator. They want ISIL destroyed, because they're not radical Islamists. It means that they're not going to get either anytime soon. "

On How A President Graham Would Keep Tabs On Putin: "...Tell The Russians That [Assad's] Going To Go, That We Will Not Accept Syria With Assad."

"The first thing, in Syria, is I would find a ground component that would destroy ISIL and put military pressure on Assad to leave. He's never going to leave while he's winning on the battlefield, so it's in our national interest to destroy ISIL. That means a ground force... to train Syrians. But, my number one priority would be to destroy ISIL in Iraq and Syria. You have to look at it as one battle space. Then, put pressure on Assad to leave and tell the Russians that he's going to go, that we will not accept Syria with Assad. That's a non-starter for us... But, you have to get in on the ground to destroy ISIL..."

On Russian Military Shipments: "If You Begin To Take The Fight To ISIL More Effectively...The Russians Will Begin To Understand That Assad Cannot Stay."

"If you begin to take the fight to ISIL more effectively, they begin to lose caliphate — you pull them up by the roots so to speak, then turn your attention to Assad — that the Russians will begin to understand that Assad cannot stay. The Syrian people will not accept him. At the end of the day, they Alawites under his enclave, we have to reconcile with them. They're worried about being slaughtered, so you have to have a diplomatic path as well as a military path..."

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Lindsey Graham, Graham Campaign Press Release - Graham Discusses Foreign Policy on MSNBC's Morning Joe Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/312583

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