Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) set off a round of brutal mockery for providing his definition of victory in the Iran war.
The South Carolina Republican and longtime champion for bombing Iran appeared Monday night on Fox News, where host Sean Hannity asked him to what terms would be necessary for the U.S. to declare victory on the war launched Feb. 28 by President Donald Trump.
"Regain freedom ofnavigation of the Strait of Hormuz," Graham declared. "If they continue toattack our allies like the United Arab Emirates, the UAEhas been champion allies.They've done everything we'veasked and more, so when Iranattacks them with missiles anddrones, we need to be therefor the United Arab Emirates.If they do this, they continueto do this, attack ships andour allies. I would letAdm. [Brad] Cooper finish the job,go against targets likeGen. [Keith] Kellogg indicated."
"I'm not a real advocate of taking Kharg Island," Graham added. "I think we oughtto tell the Iranians we willdestroy it from the air. Thatwill accomplish the mission Ihave in mind, which means theycan never regenerate anytimesoon to become the state'slargest state sponsor ofterrorism, and their nuclearprogram has been obliterated.We're close to victory.Victory, to me, would beregaining freedom ofnavigation of the Strait of Hormuz, degrading a little bitfurther, short, big, strongresponse to degrade theirmilitary capability a bitfurther, threaten Kharg Islandwith destruction, and pull outand try to get Israel and Saudi Arabia back to the peacetable. The ultimate victory isthat Saudi Arabia and Israelmake peace, ending the Arab-Israeli conflict."
Critics pointed out that many of those conditions were already in place before Trump authorized the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation, which has cost the lives of at least 13 U.S. service members and thousands of Iranians, and up to $50 billion so far.
"The Strait of Hormuz was open before Trump started his war," noted "Friendly Atheist" blogger Hemant Mehta.
"For Lindsey Graham, 'victory' over Iran means restoring the situation that existed before the war began," opined journalist and law professor Scott Horton. "That's a pretty bizarre definition of victory."
"Perhaps he means 'Check, mate,' the way amateurs & Hollywood like to announce what is often a meaningless temporary attack," suggested former chess champion Garry Kasparov. "Checkmate, (from the Persian 'shah mat', for 'the king is doomed') means regime change, no uranium, no threats. You can’t change the definition of victory!"
“'If we can just get back to the way things were before we f----- everything up, it’ll be a huge win…'" groaned widely followed X user Just Jack.