Foreign Policy

Matthew Petti | 10.18.2024 12:00 PM

Democrats and Republicans can't agree on much. But when it comes to sending Americans to war, the two parties are often willing to set aside their differences. In his new book War, investigative journalist Bob Woodward reports that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R–S.C.) had a shockingly blunt conversation with President Joe Biden about how to make it happen.

Graham reportedly said that only Biden could secure a U.S.-Saudi defense treaty, because it would "take a Democratic president to convince Democrats to vote to go to war for Saudi Arabia" during a meeting last year. "Let's do it," Biden responded, according to Woodward.

The conversation took place in the context of Biden's attempts to negotiate a "megadeal" between the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. Graham had a publicly reported meeting with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in support of the deal in April 2023. The idea, which Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance (R–Ohio) also supports, was to create a permanent, U.S.-led security alliance in the Middle East.

At the time, the Biden administration was downplaying the level of commitment it was willing to offer Saudi Arabia. Anonymous officials kept claiming that the proposed agreement would fall short of a full commitment to go to war. As a trial balloon, the........

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