Sen. Lindsey Graham dropped a fiery tweet storm last week trying to head off any Putin appeasement by U.S. legislators more than a year after Russia invaded Ukraine. Graham holds a fervent belief that U.S. national security is predicated on a global world order in which dictators and despots are constrained by Western democracies — with the U.S. in the lead.
Graham calls Putin a “war criminal (who is) solely responsible for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” And Graham is now sounding the alarm that Taiwan may be the next Ukraine, invaded by another despotic global aggressor.
Only a communist dictatorship — that harasses others, represses its people and commits genocide — would lay responsibility for Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine at the feet of the United States and NATO.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 6, 2023
It is beyond offensive.
https://t.co/XO0TozzFMF
After a recent meeting between Putin and China leader Xi Jinping, the official China narrative on Russia’s Ukraine invasion is that NATO “shoulders unshirkable responsibilities” for the Ukraine war, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. Ning said the West and NATO are “in no position to criticize or pressure China.”
Graham finds China’s posturing “beyond offensive.”
“Only a communist dictatorship — that harasses others, represses its people and commits genocide — would lay responsibility for Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine at the feet of the United States and NATO,” Graham writes of China’s statement on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
And it’s clear to me they are laying the groundwork for justifying an invasion of Taiwan.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 6, 2023
Putin is a war criminal and solely responsible for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I hope the civilized world will understand that Communist China is cut from the same cloth as Putin.
“I hope the civilized world will understand that Communist China is cut from the same cloth as Putin,” Graham warns. On hearing the Chinese equivocation about which party is the aggressor in Ukraine, Graham says “it’s clear to me they are laying the groundwork for justifying an invasion of Taiwan.”
A recent show of solidarity between the U.S. and Taiwan — as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a bipartisan congressional delegation met with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan at the Ronald Reagan Library in California — evidently did little to assuage Graham or alter his thinking about a potential Taiwan invasion.
Graham laid his own groundwork for this belief in his tweets last week, saying “the worst ‘simple-minded’ thinking is that China and Iran are not watching everything we do regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
Most importantly, the worst ‘simple-minded’ thinking is that China and Iran are not watching everything we do regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 3/3
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 30, 2023
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