Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said Sunday that Israel needs to finish off Hezbollah for good.
During an interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation," Cotton, while discussing the Israel Defense Forces killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a targeted airstrike last week, said, "I'm not sure that Israel is expanding the war so much as it is trying to end the war. I think it's important to stress just sort of how huge a blow the last two weeks have been against Hezbollah.
"Israel has absolutely devastated the entire leadership structure of Hezbollah — whether it's at the attacks that came just late last week, killing not only Hassan Nasrallah and all the other leaders, or some of their other actions, or hitting their weapons depots and manufacturing sites in Syria. Now is not the time for a cease-fire or to de-escalate, as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want," he continued.
"Hezbollah is on its knees. The United States should help Israel drive Hezbollah to the mat and choke it out and finish it off once and for all.
"That means for the first time in decades, Iran would be exposed on its flanks with no terror proxy capable of devastating Israel or our troops and our friends in the region. That's what we should do. Not demand that we have a cease-fire. De-escalate at a time when Israel is trying to win. We should let Israel win."
Cotton replied in the affirmative when asked if he would support the theoretical idea of Israel invading southern Lebanon to push Hezbollah back and create a buffer zone so Israelis in the north can move back home.
"If that's what Israel needs to do to eliminate the remnants of Hezbollah's leadership and its arsenal, then, yes, of course," Cotton said.
Jeremy Frankel ✉
Jeremy Frankel is a Newsmax writer reporting on news and politics.
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