Yesterday, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey on Iraqi security issues in light of the fact that, come January, there will be virtually no U.S. troops stationed there. In what can only be described as a first-rate senatorial butt kicking, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) took apart the two administration witnesses’ effort to explain why, after so much blood and treasure has been expended in creating a democratic Iraq, we’re now left with zero combat forces in country.
Is America's war policy being made in order to further the national interest, or is it purely political? According to South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, it's the latter.
Illinois senator Dick Durbin opened his Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing this morning on civil rights for Muslims by quoting George Washington. "In this land of equal liberty, it is our boast that a man's religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the laws," Durbin said, making it clear that this is the principle he's aiming to uphold today, as he tries to tackle concerns about how Muslim Americans are treated in this country. But his main focus was placed on rhetoric, not civil rights abuses, toward Muslims.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Thursday that he no longer favors closing the terrorist detention center maintained by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Graham, who'd previously sought to work with the Obama administration to close the prison, said there's "no way" to close the facility at this point.
At a security conference in Halifax, Senator Lindsey Graham weighed in on the foreign policy implications of the election:
Addressing the Halifax International Security Forum, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that, with an increased Republican control in Congress, “the likelihood of a precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq has gone down.” He went on to say that the election results were “good news for President Obama if he wants to be bold on Iran.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday that he planned a vote on Elena Kagan's appointment to the Supreme Court before the August recess.
In a letter to Eric Holder, Democratic senators Webb, Lincoln, and Lieberman join Republican senators Collins, McCain, and Graham in asking the attorney general to reverse course on his decision to try 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and his co-conspirators in civilian court in New York City:
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