Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is facing heavy criticism after calling for an escalation in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Graham, one of the leading advocates for the war, has urged President Donald Trump to seize Kharg Island, which handles 90% of Iran’s oil exports.

During an interview with Fox News host Shannon Bream, she referenced a new article in The Atlantic, which warned that taking the island ― and holding it ― would likely come at great cost, and any American troops on the island would be subject to “ballistic-missile strikes, drone attacks, and petrochemical smoke, all without a reliable means of obtaining logistical support.”

Graham wouldn’t hear it.

“I’m sorta tired of all this armchair quarterbacking,” he said, adding that he trusts the Marines over the author of that article.

“We did Iwo Jima,” he said. “We can do this. The Marines. My money’s always on the Marines.”

Iwo Jima was a brutal conflict in the final year of World War II that left nearly 7,000 U.S. Marines dead and 20,000 wounded over 36 days. The National World War II Museum described it as “one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history.”

Graham’s critics were horrified by the comparison:

When we finally took Iwo Jima there were nearly 7,000 US dead and 19,000 wounded. Lindsey didn’t take Iwo Jima. He’s sending our kids to die for oil. Period. This man is a monster. https://t.co/rdqBCHNOMc

The deadliest battle for US troops since Vietnam saw about one percent of the KIA suffered at Iwo Jima. This is what Lindsey Graham wants to "do" again. This is a ghoulish bloodthirsty fever we haven't seen in America in generations. https://t.co/MO4b14Md6D

No, Lindsey, “we” didn’t do Iwo Jima.Almost 7,000 Americans who died and 19,000 who were wounded did Iwo Jima. And they did it to fight for our freedom—with the support of Congress and the American people. https://t.co/BJ7uUSALR7

The abuse of the word WE in war talk by old men is so utterly infuriating. pic.twitter.com/29VlPMe5dN

Psychopath. https://t.co/FAT111hsWF

Imagine if you are a US soldier about to be sent into the meat grinder on behalf of Trump, Netanyahu and Graham. How would you feel? https://t.co/2ks62B2ba4

Graham can be thankful that the average american in 2026 doesn't know what Iwo Jima is and how horrible it was https://t.co/gZbwYcdV22

Every Sunday Lindsey Graham goes on national television and proposes new ways to send young men and women to their deaths. https://t.co/dT8S4njX0j

7,000 marines died you clown https://t.co/GBFqRNky8c

"We" meaning "your sons." The most restrained thing I can say about these people is that I pray, out of duty and without enthusiasm, that they find repentance and do not get what they deserve. https://t.co/8A27vOM8Oh

Lindsey, you go first brother. Lead from the front. https://t.co/jGpD0aWv8P

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