The United States faces a year of “opportunity and extreme danger” in relations with North Korea and Iran — and if the Trump administration “blinks, God help us all,” Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday.
In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” the South Carolina Republican warned that Iran will be watching how the United States handles North Korea, and Pyongyang will be watching U.S. moves toward Tehran.
“2018 will be a year of opportunity and extreme danger,” he said. “The president has drawn a line in North Korea, telling the regime ‘I’ll never let you hit America with a nuclear-tip missile. If I have to, I'll use military force to up to.’ Iranians are watching …”
“We’ve got a chance here to deliver some fatal blows to some really bad actors in 2018. But if we blink, God help us all,” he said.
Graham said he hopes the new year will be one “to deny North Korea” the “capability to hit the homeland.”
“Sanctions will never work completely without the threat of credible military force,” he said. “How do you change a man's behavior who selling to kill his own family, torture his own people to stay in power?”
“The only way he'll change his behavior is if he beliefs that [President] Donald Trump would use military force to destroy his regime, and Iranians are watching how Trump works with North Korea,” he said.