Lindsey Graham on airstrikes targeting Kadafi: ‘Pour it on’

Two key Republican senators said Sunday they supported NATO efforts to target airstrikes at Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, even after a strike apparently resulted in the death of one of Kadafi’s sons and three grandchildren.

“In my view, wherever Kadafi goes, he is the legitimate military target. He’s the command and control source,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Armed Services committee, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I’d like to have a pour-it-on approach to get this over with.”

Asked if such strikes would be a violation of the U.S. ban on assassinating foreign leaders, Graham said Kadafi was “acting as a murderer.”

“He is not the legitimate leader of Libya,” Graham said. “He should be brought to justice, or he should be killed.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), cautioned on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that it was difficult to kill foreign leaders, citing the attempts to target Saddam Hussein during the early part of the Iraq war and the ongoing efforts to hunt down Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

“It’s not as easy as you think, so we should be taking out [Kadafi’s] command and control, and if he’s injured because of that, that’s fine,” said McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services committee.

McCain said he was unhappy with the secondary role the U.S. has played in Libya and urged the use of U.S. air forces. But Graham said that he was happy NATO was expanding its operations in Libya.