Lindsey Graham claims Donald Trump is ‘putting the world on notice’ that there will be ‘no Benghazis on his watch’ as Democratic senator calls Middle Eastern policy ‘catastrophic’
- Sen. Lindsey Graham cheered President Trump’s response to Tuesday’s attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq
- ‘He has put the world on notice – there will be no Benghazis on his watch,’ Graham said, referencing the 2012 Libya attack that entangled Hillary Clinton
- Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, had a completely different take, saying the attack happened because Trump badly ‘bungled’ U.S. foreign policy
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham cheered President Trump’s response to Tuesday’s attack by protesters on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
‘Very proud of President @RealDonaldTrump acting decisively in the face of threats to our embassy in Baghdad,’ Graham wrote. ‘He has put the world on notice – there will be no Benghazis on his watch.’
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy took the opposite position, tweeting a comment about how badly Trump ‘bungled’ American foreign policy in the Middle East.
Sen. Lindsey Graham cheered President Trump’s response Tuesday to the attack on the American embassy in Baghdad, Iraq
Sen. Lindsey Graham declared in a tweet that there would ‘be no Benghazis on his watch.’ Graham was referring to the September 11, 2012 attack on a diplomatic compound in Libya where four Americans were killed while Hillary Clinton was secretary of State
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, had a completely different take, saying in a tweet Tuesday that President Trump had ‘bungled’ policy in the Middle East, which led to the embassy attack
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said Tuesday that Trump had turned Iraqis against the U.S. thanks to his weekend airstrikes that were in retaliation for a U.S. contractor being killed
‘Really hard to overstate how badly Trump has bungled things in the Middle East,’ Murphy tweeted Tuesday. ‘One of the only good things going – anti-Iran street protests in Iraq – have now morphed into anti-U.S. protests thanks to Trump’s mishandling of Iran policy.’
Both senators were responding to the attack Tuesday by thousands of protesters on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
The attack was inspired by Trump’s decision to launch airstrikes over the weekend in Syria and Iraq to punish the Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah for a rocket attack that killed a U.S. contractor.
The airstrikes killed at least 25 fighters, with protesters surrounding the U.S. embassy after funerals for the dead.
Trump responded to the embassy attack by tweeting out a threat to Iran – and also sending in the Marines.
‘Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq,’ Trump wrote. ‘They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!’
He later tweeted, ‘To those many millions of people in Iraq who want freedom and who don’t want to be dominated and controlled by Iran, this is your time!’
Trump also spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi over the telephone.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s spokesperson also said that Pompeo talked to both the Iraqi Prime Minister and President Barham Salih by phone.
Sen. Lindsey Graham used the same Twitter thread to issue Iran a warning, suggesting that President Trump would ‘hit you where it hurts the most’ if the country continued with its proxy wars
Later, the Pentagon announced 100 Marines had been sent to the so-called Green Zone complex, to bolster security.
Democrats have long complained about Trump’s approach to the Middle East. He decided in May 2018 to pull out of the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran, which was to keep the regime from developing nuclear weapons.
Instead, Trump taken a more hard-line approach.
In his Tuesday tweets, Graham advised Iran to be careful with Trump in the White House.
‘To the Iranian government: Be careful what you wish for – a country that depends on the ability to refine oil for its existence needs to be cautious,’ the South Carolina Republican wrote. ‘President Trump, unlike President Obama, will hold you accountable for threats against Americans and hit you where it hurts the most.’
‘Choose your battles wisely,’ the senator said.
Benghazi became a Republican rallying cry against former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, for four Americans were killed at the American at a diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012 – while Clinton was serving as Obama’s secretary of state.
The 10 investigations into Benghazi did not find evidence that Clinton or any other high-ranking government official responded improperly to the attack.