The Hill – Nov. 21, 2015 – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Mali show President Obama is unprepared to fight Islamic extremism.
“We have learned that President Obama is overwhelmed when it comes to radical Islam,” he said Friday on Fox News’s “The Real Story.” “His strategy is failing.
 “He doesn’t have much of a clue on what he’s doing,” Graham continued. “President Obama’s policies are not working.”
Graham has long argued for ground troops to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and said Obama’s strategy of airstrikes was not working.
“You cannot destroy these guys from the air,” he said. “This plan of Obama’s is never going to work.
“I never thought I’d hear myself saying this, but I wish that the American president could be as bold as the French president.”
Graham called for a full-blown ground operation to destroy ISIS in their own territory.
“We’ve got two choices: fight in their backyard or our backyard,” the 2016 GOP presidential candidate said. “I choose their backyard.
“I hope people will wake up,” Graham added. “I have a plan to win a war we cannot afford to lose.”
Graham also said he disagrees with GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s proposed solution for combating radical Islam.
“It is not constitutional to follow someone because of their faith,” Graham said, disputing Trump’s notion of a database registering all U.S. Muslims.
“You have to have probable cause that someone is aiding the enemy,” he added.
Graham’s comments come after gunmen on Friday stormed a hotel in Bamako, the capital of Mali, leaving at least 27 people dead after taking multiple hostages.
Special Forces eventually repelled the extremists, killing at least two after a fight lasting several hours.
The incident follows another massacre last week that left nearly 130 dead and more than 300 wounded in Paris. ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the coordinated bombings and shootings across the French capital.