Senator Lindsey Graham recently called for the U.S. Marines to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, a move that has quickly drawn sharp criticism from fellow lawmakers, as reported by The Hill. Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, made his case on television, suggesting this aggressive action could “let this regime die on a vine.”
Kharg Island sits about 20 miles off the coast of mainland Iran, and Graham believes controlling it would cut off the resources the country uses to produce oil. He directly advised President Trump to “keep it up for a few more weeks, take Kharg Island where all of the resources they have to produce oil, control that island.”
When faced with an analysis suggesting such an invasion could lead to a “grinding war of attrition,” Graham quickly dismissed it. He told the interviewer he was “sort of tired of all this armchair quarterbacking.” He added, “I trust the Marines, not that guy. I trust DOD. We’ve got two Marine expeditionary area units sailing to this island. We did Iwo Jima, we can do this. The Marines, my money’s always on the Marines.”
Graham’s comparison to the Battle for Iwo Jima immediately caught attention
That World War II conflict was incredibly brutal, with nearly 7,000 U.S. service members dying. It was a pivotal part of the U.S. military’s strategy to get bombers close enough to strike the Japanese homeland. The sheer scale and cost of Iwo Jima make Graham’s invocation a pretty stark reference.
This call for military action and the Iwo Jima comparison prompted a strong backlash from other Republicans. Rep. Nancy Mace, also from South Carolina, took to X to voice her disapproval, arguing that Graham has a history of being wrong about conflicts. “Graham has one foreign policy: send someone else’s kids to war,” she wrote. “He was wrong about Iraq. He was wrong about Afghanistan. Now he’s wrong about Iran.”
Mace, notably, was the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel, South Carolina’s military college, while Graham served over three decades as a U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General before retiring as a colonel.
Another Air Force veteran, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna from Florida, also expressed her deep concern on X. She stated she was “deeply upset at the lack of respect for life Sen. Lindsey Graham is displaying when talking about our troops.” Luna described his comments as acting “as if they are expendable cattle,” calling it “unacceptable and dark.”
She further highlighted the immense human cost of the historical battle, reminding everyone that “there were over 26,000 American casualties at Iwo Jima,” a figure that includes both killed and wounded.
Published: Mar 23, 2026 02:30 pm