Graham Urges Ground Troops: ‘If ISIS Survives Our Best Shot, We’re All Less Safe’

Sen. Graham Urges Ground Troops: ‘If ISIS Survives Our Best Shot, We’re All Less Safe’ (National Review Online)

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham urged President Obama to deploy American ground troops to combat Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria, warning that the terror group will become a much greater threat should it survive the U.S. air campaign against it.

The South Carolina lawmaker spoke with CNN’s Candy Crowley on Sunday about the ongoing coalition campaign to “degrade, and ultimately destroy,” the Islamic State.

Crowley claimed there is not enough public support for a ground war, despiterecent  polls  that show the majority of Americans are open to the idea should air strikes prove insufficient.

But Graham insisted that U.S. troops should be deployed regardless of public opinion. “The job of the commander-in-chief is to protect the country,” he said. “And I think most Americans understand if we don’t destroy ISIL — if they survive our best shot — that we’re all less safe. And at the end of the day, you cannot destroy ISIL in Syria without a ground component.”