Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) launches his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, vowing to strengthen the nation through a muscular foreign policy.
“I want to be president to defeat the enemies trying to kill us, not just penalize them or criticize them or contain them, but defeat them,” Graham says. 
“We will never enjoy peaceful co-existence with radical Islam because its followers are committed to destroying us and our way of life. However, America can have ‘security through strength,” Graham said.
Graham is one of the foremost national security hawks in the GOP and is running almost exclusively on his foreign policy bona fides.
Lawmakers returned to Washington on Sunday in a last-ditch effort to prevent parts of the Patriot Act from expiring
In his speech, Graham warns about the dangers of radical Islam and argue that the U.S. needs to take the fight to the terrorists.
“Simply put, radical Islam is running wild,” he says. “They have more safe havens, more money, more weapons and more capability to strike our homeland than any time since 9/11. They are large, rich and entrenched. As president, I will make them small, poor and on the run.”
“But to defeat this enemy, it will require more than military might,” Graham added. “The most powerful weapon in our arsenal isn’t a gun. It’s an idea. The terrorists are selling a glorious death. We must sell a hopeful life. I’ve learned from my travels that a small school house in a remote region educating a young girl can do more damage to radical Islam than any weapon we possess.”
Graham lashed out against the US Administration’s appeasement policy with the Iranian regime last week during a Senate hearing saying if Iran gets billions of dollars that the sanctions relief is intended to provide them, a large portion of this money undoubtedly would go to these extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.
“I’m running because of what you see on television. I’m running because I think the world is falling apart.” Graham said in an appearance on “CBS This Morning” last month. “I’ve been more right than wrong on foreign policy.”