During World War II, there was a saying that every American learned by heart as part of the effort to make sure the country was victorious: Loose lips sink ships. In other words, be careful what you say, because you never know who might be listening, including the Axis powers.
It’d be nice to think that members of the United States Senate would still abide by such advice, but Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in an effort to pretend he’s a tough guy for his constituents back home, has been repeatedly going on television and saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to be killed.
On Twitter, Graham wrote:
“The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country – and the world – a great service.”
While the vast majority of us would indeed celebrate if Putin suddenly dropped dead, Graham’s very specific calls for someone to bust a cap in the Russian tyrant are dangerous to the United States, according to experts.
In an enlightening article for USA Today, Grace Hauck notes that she spoke with Anthony Arend, co-founder of the Institute for International Law & Politics at Georgetown University, who told her:
“There are so many dangerous aspects to his [Graham’s] comments.
“It sets the possible precedent that others will be able to look at the United States and say, ‘Well, they’re advocating it. Why don’t we simply move to a foreign policy that more broadly incorporates assassinations or targeting regime leaders?'”
Nika Aleksejeva, a researcher with the Digital Forensic Research Lab at the Atlantic Council, says Graham’s ill-conceived remarks also help Russia paint the U.S. as some sort of rogue nation:
“It gives Russia a particular case to point at. These comments are qualified as calls to terror attacks. It opens opportunity for disinformation to be later created based on this particular event.”
If Putin is to be removed from office and punished for his invasion of Ukraine, according to Kathryn Sikkink of Harvard Kennedy School, that needs to be done by the government that replaces him:
“If you’ve had leaders who’ve committed crimes, you want the new government to be able to put those leaders on trial and hold them criminally accountable using due process for crimes they’ve committed. And if you find them guilty, to sentence them and imprison them.”
Lindsey needs to shut the hell up unless he plans to go to the Kremlin himself and take Putin out. Here’s betting he doesn’t have the cojones for that.