Lindsey Graham

CENTRAL, S.C. — Lindsey Graham will launch his bid for president today in the small South Carolina town where he grew up. His White House ambitions are rooted half a world away in the Middle East.

When kicking off his campaign, South Carolina’s senior senator is sure to blast President Barack Obama’s withdrawal of troops from Iraq, insist on the need to strong-arm Iran over its nuclear program and work to subdue the violent Islamic State militants who have gained footholds in Iraq and Syria.

Yet in the early days of the 2016 campaign for president, Graham has already gone further than most of his rivals for the GOP nomination in saying how he would tackle such problems, while acknowledging the potential costs of his strategy.

Graham wants to put an additional 10,000-plus U.S. troops into Iraq, adding to the several thousand there now working as trainers and advisers. He says it could take even more troops to stabilize the Middle East, adding “more American soldiers will die in Iraq and eventually in Syria to protect our homeland.”

It’s a calculated risk for the 59-year-old three-term senator and retired Air Force lawyer who surprised many when he began to hint earlier this year he would run for president.

A poll conducted by Pew Research found 63 percent of adults backed some kind of military campaign against the Islamic State group, compared to 30 percent opposed.