Sen. Lindsey Graham ridiculed President Biden’s foreign policy on Sunday, saying the only ones hit in retaliatory attacks by American forces were idiots.
The U.S. and Britain hit 36 Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday following an air assault in Iraq and Syria on Friday, as part of an onslaught meant to thwart Iran-backed groups attacking American interests.
Mr. Graham, South Carolina Republican, said U.S. national security is in free-fall because America’s enemies are not intimidated by Mr. Biden.
“People are not afraid of us. This idea of hitting hundreds of targets, it doesn’t matter,” Mr. Graham said on “Fox News Sunday.” “The only Iranian we killed in Syria, Iraq, is some dumbass that doesn’t know to get out of the way. We gave them a week’s notice.”
Mr. Graham did not limit his criticism of Mr. Biden’s foreign policy to America’s response to the drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan last weekend.
He said Mr. Biden’s 2021 withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan emboldened adversaries, resulting in the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Hamas’ Oct. attack on Israel and Americans killed by Iran proxies this year.
“If the goal is to deter Iran, you’re failing miserably,” Mr. Graham said. “If the goal is to protect American troops, you’re not achieving your goal.”
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that American forces struck more than fools who failed to evacuate before the attacks started.
Mr. Sullivan told NBC the military had no confirmation of any civilian casualties from recent days’ attacks and was investigating the outcome.
“What we do know is that the targets we hit were absolutely valid targets from the point of view of containing the weaponry and the personnel that were attacking American forces,” Mr. Sullivan told NBC. “We are confident in the targets that we struck, and I will defer to a final analysis, the question of who was taken out among militant leaders.”
Mr. Graham is not satisfied and wants the Biden administration to take direct aim at Iran.
“You need to hit something the ayatollah values: his leadership team, like a [Qasem] Soleimani, or take him out of the oil business,” Mr. Graham said, referring to the Iranian general who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2020.
Asked if the Biden administration ruled out strikes inside Iran, Mr. Sullivan told NBC he would not announce any targets ruled in or out for future attack.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.