Graham Campaign Press Release - IJReview: Lindsey Graham: "Why We Need Troops on the Ground in Syria"

Why We Need Troops On the Ground in Syria

By Senator Lindsey Graham

IJReview

October 15, 2015

Our next president's greatest task is to undo the Obama Doctrine and reclaim our indispensable role as a force for global security. I am running for president because I am the only candidate with in-depth knowledge of these challenges and a detailed strategy for taking them on.

I have made dozens of trips to the Middle East. I know the region and the players, and I understand fully what is at stake. I have concluded that most people are not buying what ISIL is selling, and I have a plan to stop them.

Russia's entry into the Syrian war marks a dangerous new phase in this conflict, escalating the threat level against the United States and highlighting the consequences of President Obama's failure to project leadership in the Middle East. Putin has long been a factor in this crisis, helping to prop up Syrian President Bashar Assad with financial support and material. But the arrival of Russian troops and launching of Russian airstrikes on Syrian soil are harbingers of even greater violence, devastation, and instability.

The beneficiaries of these developments will be:

ISIL, who will be strengthened in their ability to recruit foreign fighters and exploit the chaos;

Assad, the war criminal who has waged a brutal four-year assault against his own people;

Iran, another Assad benefactor; and

Putin, who is reclaiming a strong Russian position in the region.

Those who will suffer most will be the Syrian people, neighboring nations like Lebanon and Jordan, the moderate Muslims who are seeking to reclaim the initiative from radical Islam, and the United States, as our interests are supplanted by Russia's and the risk of attacks on our homeland compounds.

President Obama deserves much of the blame. He made the disastrous choice to withdraw our troops from Iraq in 2011, renewing instability and opening up a space into which ISIL and Iran expanded. He refused to help the Syrian people when they rose up against Assad, not even to enforce his own red line on the use of chemical weapons. This gave oxygen to the rise to ISIL and other terrorist groups, created a global recruitment magnet, and signaled clearly to the region and the world that Obama is as weak as he is untrustworthy. The resulting leadership vacuum has been readily filled by Sunni and Shia terrorists, the Iranian Ayatollah, and now Putin.

Syria is now the perfect launching pad for devastating attacks against our homeland that could make the September 11 attacks pale in comparison. Seasoned fighters with Western passports will be in a position to inflict incredible harm. Tehran's emboldened and unchecked role in the Middle East is adding fuel to this fire, prolonging Assad's reign of terror and preventing a resolution to the conflict. Russia's arrival exacerbates this reality even further. The massive flow of Syrian refugees is not just a terrible humanitarian crisis. It threatens the stability of our close allies in the region and poses a considerable challenge to our friends in Europe, which, ultimately, undermines our own security.

As president, I would increase our current presence of American troops in Iraq from 3,500 to 10,000 in order to turn the tide of battle. It brings me no pleasure to conclude we must send troops back into Iraq, but doing so would allow us to embed with Iraqi forces at the battalion level, as well as deploy attack helicopters to give the Iraqi army a substantial advantage over ISIL.

I would put in place robust special operations capability to apply constant pressure on ISIL's leadership and supply better arms and equipment to the Kurds. Together these efforts would reclaim the gains of the Surge and restore stability in Iraq.

However, the heart of the fight will be in Syria, where ISIL is headquartered. This will require a regional force with troops from Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. This is their fight, first and foremost. But it directly affects our security, and we must be a part of it to provide leadership and additional capability. I would also provide assistance in dealing with the enormous humanitarian crisis that is overwhelming the region and acting as a barrier to efforts to extinguish the flames of radical ideology.

I will bring this detailed strategy to the White House. Most important, I will bring the will to defend our nation and restore America's global leadership role.

I am the only candidate who has the credentials and strategy to keep America safe. As tempting as it may to withdraw from the terrible violence and chaos engulfing the Middle East, we have seen that terror will arrive on our shores if we don't confront it at the source.

ISIL offers the people of the Middle East a glorious death. We must offer a hopeful life. In return, we will restore stability over there while increasing security here at home. I am running for president to ensure that we have the capability, capacity, and will to protect America and bring about a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world.