Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican and presidential hopeful, said in one of his first campaign talks on foreign policy America ought to take a stronger stand against ISIS and send in the troops.
"I am offering a solution to radical Islam that will be hard, but I think it's the right solution," Graham said, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Specifically, he said 20,000 U.S. service members ought to do the trick, Defense One reported. He wants to send them to Iraq and Syria, to fight alongside troops from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.
"Not because I like war or because I want war," but rather to defend America, Graham said, speaking at the Atlantic Council, the news outlet reported. "I've learned a lot from [President George Bush's] mistakes, my mistakes, Obama's mistakes."
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But, he added, ISIS requires a tough and aggressive response.
"There is no alternative to going in on the ground and pulling the caliphate up by the roots," Graham said, Defense One reported. "If that scares you, don't vote for me."
Graham's call sets him apart from his fellow GOP presidential aspirants who haven't been so bold in calling for more U.S. ground troops to the region. He said the 3,500 U.S. troops in Iraq are "too few," and that number ought to be increased to 10,000. He then said another 10,000 should be dispatched to Syria.
"The capital of the caliphate is inside Syria, not Iraq," Graham said, Defense One reported.
He also took the opportunity to slam the Obama administration's foreign policy as lacking in sense.
"Simply put," he said, "President Obama's foreign policy has been a disaster and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was one of his chief architects. When I hear a Republican candidate for president say I wouldn’t send any more troops into Iraq, tell me why you would expect a different outcome than what President Obama is achieving today? When I hear a candidate for president on the Republican side say, 'I'm not into open-ended commitments' — to the people in the Mideast, that comes differently than you intend. That shows a sign of weakness."
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