SandsIntel

Lindsey Graham just died. My timeline is filling up with eulogies from Kurdish leaders. Was he really ever a friend to the Kurds? The track record says otherwise. Two Russian comedians called Lindsey Graham’s office pretending to be Turkey’s Minister of Defense. He bought it, told them the Kurds were a “problem” for Turkey, that he was “sympathetic to the YPG problem,” and that Erdogan had a point. It took a prank call to extract an honest view out of a man who spent a decade performing as the last honorable hawk in Washington in front of cameras. That same week, Graham was calling the 2019 abandonment of the Kurds “a stain on America’s honor.” He tweeted about betrayal. He threatened Turkey with sanctions if it moved one foot into Syria. (No sanction proposals followed, despite the Turkish army moving in to occupy 4,000 square kilometers, covering around 600 settlements in the strip between Tal Abyad and Serekaniye.) Fast forward to 2026. The SDF collapses under Abu Mohammad al-Jolani’s offensive in January — they sign a conditional surrender practically at gunpoint, brokered and enabled by the same country that spent a decade calling itself their ally. Graham’s response was to introduce a bill: the Save the Kurds Act — sanctions, snapback provisions, an HTS terrorist redesignation, the whole performance — filed, praised, quoted, and then parked where bills go to die, in the Senate Banking Committee, where it has sat to this day without a single hearing. Then May 2026: on Fox, fed a loaded premise that the Kurds are stealing 90% of weapons meant for Iranian opposition fighters, Graham didn’t correct it — he leaned in, telling the host the Kurds would “regret it” and that the US could “work with somebody else.” The claim was fabricated. Trump kept repeating it anyway without ever answering a follow-up. His own Vice President later flatly denied the Kurds had anything to do with it. Graham never walked his line back. He died having endorsed al-Jolani, fresh off last week’s NATO summit meeting with al-Jolani in Ankara. His statement said al-Jolani “deserves a chance,” credited him with damaging Iran’s influence, and explicitly urged Israel to “reassess its approach to the new government.” Graham’s own words: “I believe it is in America’s national security interest to work with him and give him a chance… President al-Sharaa (al-Jolani) presents the best chance for a functioning, united Syria over time.” Turns out the only version of Lindsey Graham that ever told the truth about the Kurds was the one who thought he was talking to Ankara off the record.

At 7:15 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching the third round of strikes this week against Iran after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces blatantly attacked M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz. A civilian crew member is missing and the vessel is unable to continue the journey due to an onboard fire and significant engineroom damage. Iran was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels but has again failed. In response, the United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait. The strikes are being carried out at the direction of the Commander in Chief.

With everything happening right now and what may unfold next week, Trump’s recent visit to Turkey and his talks with Erdogan should not be overlooked.

Same schemes as always, like clockwork 🎯