Newt Gingrich Suggests Attacking Rest Of 'Axis Of Evil' (VIDEO)
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich twice called on the United States to attack North Korea and Iran Thursday because the United States has only attacked "one out of three" of so-called "Axis of Evil" members by invading Iraq. He also claimed that Muslims are trying to install Sharia law on America and said that the "War on Terror" should have been a war on "radical Islamists" instead.
Speaking at an American Enterprise Institute event yesterday, Gingrich compared not following through on President George W. Bush's "Axis of Evil" agenda with not fully engaging the Axis power in World War II.
"If Franklin Roosevelt had done that in '41, either the Japanese or the Germans would have won," Gingrich said, adding that Americans should "over-match the problem."
On the reaction to Bush's declaration of an "Axis of Evil," Gingrich blamed Democrats because Americans had not followed through on President Bush's words:
I believe he was right but in fact could not operationalize what he said. That is, there was an Axis of Evil, Iran, Iraq, North Korea. Well we're one out of three. And people ought to think about that. If Bush was right in January of 2002 -- and by the way virtually the entire Congress gave him a standing ovation when he said it -- then why is it that the other two parts of the Axis of Evil are still visibly, cheerfully making nuclear weapons? And it's because we've stood at brink, looked over and thought, "Too big a problem."
In an interview with Newsmax, Gingrich said that the "secular elites" haven't taken seriously "threats to America," and that Elena Kagan has "no real appreciation of the danger of Sharia," because she "welcomed Saudi money" while serving as the Dean of Harvard University Law School.
"Radical Islamists are people who want to impose on the rest of us Sharia, which is a form of medieval law which would fundamentally end America as we've known it," Gingrich said. "There are disturbing signs that some places ... you see judges succumb to this line of reasoning." He called on "isolating and defeating radicals," while "modernizing" moderates.
The former House Speaker also told Newsmax that the planned mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan should be stopped. He suggested that, were he president, he would "declare the area around the World Trade Center a national military battlefield because that was a battle and it part of a real war." Story continues below
Gingrich has been aggressively attacking Islam in the past weeks. Last week, he came out against the "Ground Zero Mosque," saying that it "showed hypocrisy" because there are no churches in Saudi Arabia.
The Renewing American Leadership Action PAC, of which Gingrich is chairman, has used the controversy as a fund raising platform, Salon's Justin Elliott reports. In a blast email sent to the World Net Daily list, a Gingrich-signed letter reads, "Please SELECT HERE to STOP the Ground Zero mosque! Your decisive DONATION to Real Action will help us to RALLY and ACTIVATE all Americans, to TAKE REAL ACTION!"
Gingrich also told Newsmax that he expects Sarah Palin to run for President in 2012 in a large Republican field. Gingrich is rumored to be running for President in 2012, but did not say whether or not he's running.
"She's already a very strong personality and has the potential to be a very strong candidate," he said.
