GOP Senator Lindsey Graham advocated for providing Israel with the necessary bombs to bring an end to the war. He even compared the Israeli military's efforts against Hamas to when the US dropped nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, killing more than 100,000 civilians.
In an interview on NBC News 'Meet the Press', he said, "Give Israel the bombs they need to end the war. They can't afford to lose."
He further added, "When we were faced with destruction as a nation after Pearl Harbor, fighting the Germans and the Japanese, we decided to end the war by the bombing [of] Hiroshima [and] Nagasaki with nuclear weapons. That was the right decision."
When asked about the disparity between President Ronald Reagan's decision to withhold specific weapons from Israel during its conflict in Lebanon in the 1980s and Biden's current threat to do the same, Graham again referenced World War II.
"Why is it OK for America to drop two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end their existential threat war? Why was it OK for us to do that? I thought it was OK. So, Israel, do whatever you have to do to survive as a Jewish state. Whatever you have to do," he said.
Graham also argued that Hamas bears responsibility for civilian casualties throughout the conflict.
"I think it's impossible to mitigate civilian deaths in Gaza as long as Hamas uses their own population as human shields. I've never seen in the history of warfare such blatant efforts by an enemy — Hamas — to put civilians at risk," he said.
While Washington has halted one shipment and is examining others, the spokesperson asserted that its staunch support to Israel remains unchanged.
Earlier this week, it was US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin who testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee regarding the Defense Department's fiscal 2025 budget request.
During the hearing, he had addressed the Biden administration's decision to temporarily halt the delivery of munitions to Israel amid concerns about the Netanyahu government's intentions to launch an offensive in Rafah. Austin had emphasized the US opposition to any Israeli ground offensive in Rafah. He clarified that the decision to suspend arms sales is unrelated to the recently passed foreign aid law, which includes billions of dollars in military funding for Israel.
