Lindsey Graham mocked online for his 'bizarre definition of victory' in Iran war

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) set off a round of brutal mockery for providing his definition of victory in the Iran war.

The South Carolina Republican and longtime champion for bombing Iran appeared Monday night on Fox News, where host Sean Hannity asked him to what terms would be necessary for the U.S. to declare victory on the war launched Feb. 28 by President Donald Trump.

"Regain freedom of navigation of the Strait of Hormuz," Graham declared. "If they continue to attack our allies like the United Arab Emirates, the UAE has been champion allies. They've done everything we've asked and more, so when Iran attacks them with missiles and drones, we need to be there for the United Arab Emirates. If they do this, they continue to do this, attack ships and our allies. I would let Adm. [Brad] Cooper finish the job, go against targets like Gen. [Keith] Kellogg indicated."

"I'm not a real advocate of taking Kharg Island," Graham added. "I think we ought to tell the Iranians we will destroy it from the air. That will accomplish the mission I have in mind, which means they can never regenerate anytime soon to become the state's largest state sponsor of terrorism, and their nuclear program has been obliterated. We're close to victory. Victory, to me, would be regaining freedom of navigation of the Strait of Hormuz, degrading a little bit further, short, big, strong response to degrade their military capability a bit further, threaten Kharg Island with destruction, and pull out and try to get Israel and Saudi Arabia back to the peace table. The ultimate victory is that Saudi Arabia and Israel make peace, ending the Arab-Israeli conflict."

Critics pointed out that many of those conditions were already in place before Trump authorized the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation, which has cost the lives of at least 13 U.S. service members and thousands of Iranians, and up to $50 billion so far.

"The Strait of Hormuz was open before Trump started his war," noted "Friendly Atheist" blogger Hemant Mehta.

"For Lindsey Graham, 'victory' over Iran means restoring the situation that existed before the war began," opined journalist and law professor Scott Horton. "That's a pretty bizarre definition of victory."

"Perhaps he means 'Check, mate,' the way amateurs & Hollywood like to announce what is often a meaningless temporary attack," suggested former chess champion Garry Kasparov. "Checkmate, (from the Persian 'shah mat', for 'the king is doomed') means regime change, no uranium, no threats. You can’t change the definition of victory!"

“'If we can just get back to the way things were before we f----- everything up, it’ll be a huge win…'" groaned widely followed X user Just Jack.