Graham knocks Macron's 'cavalier' comments about European ISIS fighters

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) knocked French President Emmanuel Macron for “cavalier” comments about ISIS fighters who traveled from Europe to join the terrorist group.

“Very disturbed by the cavalier remarks made by President Macron about how the number of European ISIS fighters in Syria is a small problem in the grand scheme of things,” Graham, a well-known foreign policy hawk, tweeted.

“There are hundreds of European ISIS fighters currently imprisoned in Syria. They are committed jihadists and killing machines. We must never forget what a handful of ISIS fighters did in the Paris and Nice attacks, and attacks in other European nations,” he added, referencing terrorist attacks by ISIS in France that killed more than 200 people combined.

There are hundreds of European ISIS fighters currently imprisoned in Syria. They are committed jihadists and killing machines.
We must never forget what a handful of ISIS fighters did in the Paris and Nice attacks, and attacks in other European nations.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 4, 2019

The remarks come after a tense meeting on Tuesday in London between Macron and President Trump in which Trump complained that European countries have been unwilling to accept ISIS fighters the U.S. had captured.
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“Would you like some nice ISIS fighters? I can give them to you,” Trump said. “You can take every one you want.”

“Let’s be serious,” Macron replied, noting that most ISIS fighters came from Syria, Iraq and Iran and that the number of European ISIS fighters was a “tiny” part of the overall problem of addressing turmoil in the Middle East.

Graham also said on Wednesday he agreed with Trump’s concerns about European nations’ willingness to accept ISIS fighters, saying that NATO allies should craft a detention system outside of the traditional judicial process.

“It is time for NATO to look at a detention system to deal with enemy combatants rather than using the traditional criminal justice system (which is ill-equipped to fight a war.),” he said.