In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death this week sent video clips of his most memorable moments ricocheting across social media. Conservatives spread his stirring defense of Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in 2018, with many, including our own Guy Benson, calling it his finest hour.Meanwhile, some Democrats, reaching for something nice to say, shared Graham’s gushing tribute to Joe Biden in 2015, in which he called Biden “as good a man as God ever created.”
Those who hated him, a group that spans no small share of the internet, pointed to a February interview with Hadley Gamble of Sky News. Gamble noted that Israel had flattened Gaza, and Graham responded in a tone that read less like grim acceptance than outright endorsement, saying, “Just flatten it. We flattened Berlin. We flattened Tokyo.”The clip united detractors of Graham, on the Left and the Right alike, and even caused his allies to squirm.I am among those squirmers.To be clear, I agree with Graham’s fundamental stance toward the Middle East — that eliminating the Islamic Republic of Iran is a precondition for peace. Like Graham, I believe it is a malignant force, motivated by an evil theology that demands the eradication of Israel and global Islamic domination. Preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is no less than a matter of survival for the West.That’s because, as President Donald Trump rightly insisted Monday, Iran would use a nuclear bomb to annihilate Israel — and the regime wouldn’t blink.The Islamic Republic of Iran is not an ordinary villain of history, but a uniquely dangerous cult animated by an apocalyptic eschatology. It is not driven by money or power but by the fulfillment of a religious prophecy.It does not want to negotiate; it wants leverage — the fabled “Iranian moderate” will never emerge from this regime. It just wants to watch the world burn. And so it must be destroyed.This simple and powerful logic animated Graham’s worldview. His consistent application of it made him a bulwark against an emerging consensus, on both the Left and the Right, that America can simply look away.Yet the Sky News clip lingers uncomfortably. Does Graham’s logic, or anything, justify “flattening” a city and burying thousands of women and children beneath the rubble?What’s more, does his apparent enthusiasm for doing so speak to something darker beneath his aw-shucks manner — or was he simply saying out loud what total victory over an enemy like Hamas, propped up and armed by Iran’s Islamic Revolution, actually requires?Graham’s supporters shouldn’t sidestep the discomfort. Supporting the logic of a war does not mean assenting to every proposed means. Neither does admiring one aspect of a fallen leader mean he must be canonized in full.Watching how the exchange with Gamble unfolded allows for a more careful reckoning with these questions.“Many people in this part of the world say what happened in Gaza does not align with Christian values: killing children, killing mothers, killing families who are not militants,” Gamble began.Graham cut her off: “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t buy that at all. Because what did we do in World War II? Did we think for one minute about starving the Germans? Did we bomb every city into smithereens? So this is war.”Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) gestures as he speaks to the media in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
