On July 31, 2024, South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham, introduced a resolution that views any attack by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah against Israel as an attack carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Per the resolution, the Senate “asserts that efforts to deter Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran are most credible when the President keeps all options on the table, including military force.”

The resolution Iran and Hezbollah are responsible for “any adverse impacts on the people of Lebanon that result from an attack on the State of Israel by Hezbollah” on top of that it calls on Congress and the President to use “all diplomatic tools and power projection capabilities” to hold both Iran and Hezbollah accountable.

Furthermore, Graham introduced an Authorization for Use of Military Force which would allow the use of US Armed Forces to attack Iran for allegedly threatening the national security of the US via the development of nuclear weapons.

Graham noted the resolution would be activated if the president reaches the conclusion that Iran possesses enriched uranium to the weapons grade level of a nuclear warhead and possesses a delivery vehicle that has the ability to deliver a nuclear device against Israel, United States, or other allies.

“Iran will keep going until somebody tells them to stop,” Graham said to reporters during a conference call on July 31. “It is time to put red lines on their nuclear program.”

Graham proclaimed that “it is a certainty” that if the US doesn’t pursue heavy-handed policies, Iran will have a nuclear weapon in its possession within a matter of weeks or months.

Graham described the Director of National Intelligence’s report on the status of Iran’s nuclear program as  “unnerving.”

“Their ability to enrich to weapons grade is now a matter of weeks, not months,” Graham observed. “Their ability to weaponize the material has advanced, and it is now time for Congress to lend their voice to the proper response.”

Graham believes that both Israel and the US should hold Iran accountable for Hezbollah’s escalatory actions.

In Graham’s view, the US should be hitting critical targets like oil refineries in Iran.

“If Hezbollah attacks Israel, my hope is that they will have one less refinery than they do today,” he said. “It is time to hit the Ayatollah in the pocketbook. Oil refineries are the lifeblood of his regime. Without those refineries, they would not be able to fund terrorism.”

“Israel is not the bad guy here,” Graham said, adding that it’s time to hold Iran accountable for its proxies. “Hezbollah was the agent of the attack, on October 7, the slaughtering of 1,200 Jews was done by the Iranians through Hamas,” Graham highlighted. “So our friends in Israel, if you’re hit by Hezbollah, strike hard, strike lethal and include Iran on the target list.”

Ultimately, Graham wants to ensure that Iran gets punished for its use of its alleged proxies in Lebanon.

What Graham is advocating here is basically the precursor to a war with Iran. It’s time to call a spade a spade. Lindsey Graham is an America Last warhawk.

To be sure, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not a regime that Westerners should emulate. However, it does not pose an existential threat to the US, especially at a time when the real threat is the US’s loose southern border that is flooded by millions of migrants from the Global South on an annual basis.

It’s time to give Graham and the cold shoulder and start retracting the American Empire so that we can shift military resources to our southern border.