Newt Gingrich Suggests Engaging More Directly With Rest Of 'Axis Of Evil' (VIDEO)

UPDATED Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich last week criticized the United States for not engaging more forcefully with other countries besides Iraq that President Georgw W. Bush had identified as the "Axis of Evil."

"I believe he was right but in fact could not operationalize what he said," Gingrich said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute. "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.'"

Separately 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."

WATCH: Newt Gingrich speak about the American reaction to Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech, (from Think Progress).

WATCH: Newt Gingrich's interview with Newsmax:

Comments

[VictorLudorum]

09:14 AM on 08/15/2010

USA is under the Turkish Detente itself !
The Terrorism in Karachi and Pak/Afgan border is directly economics and trade related!
The Islamabad Administration cannot come up with answers and Washinton denied France the bank accounts detail of Benazir Bhutto .
Then soon USA itself will look like a predator in Kabul.

[hedah]

02:01 AM on 08/15/2010

OUR sweaty tax-dollars CANNOT afford any more blood-shed, more coffins..... multiplying fierce enemies spreading everywhere, including here at home ! Does blood-thirsty Mr.Gingrich volunteer being in the "line of fire" on the BATTLE-FIELD ?! ( Let Israel take care of Iran ).

[Janetshusb]

05:36 PM on 08/03/2010

Newt is a smart man, he's well educated, he's a history professor. There is no way he believes the propaganda he is spouting about Sharia Law taking over the US, the Cordoba community center in NYC acting as a terrorist generator, the poor being just lazy tax suckers or that going to war with Iran and N. Korea would increase our security. Why is a smart knowledgeable, well read man supporting this nonsense? Why is he pandering to the racism, xenophobia, small minded, unquestioning patriotism and mean spiritedness of 25% of the voters? Is he that desperate for votes that he will sell his integrity to the highest bidder? What a shame. I used to think he had something to say to the American people. Not any more.

[NickfromCali]

11:08 PM on 08/02/2010

This man must NEVER become President

[Pharcee]

06:25 PM on 08/04/2010

That has to be he single most important statement about this man.....You just made me a big fan.

[bobwalters]

06:01 PM on 08/02/2010

Clearly, Newt's been driven 'round the bend by the election of a black man to the presidency. Poor damned war-mongering Georgia cracker just can't stand it. Crawl back under your rock, Newt.

[Janetshusb]

04:50 PM on 08/02/2010

Newt uses his considerable intellect to pander to the worst traits of conservative voters.

[Janetshusb]

04:49 PM on 08/02/2010

Newt Gingrich is not presidential material.

[Tom S Cedar Mill]

04:47 AM on 09/17/2010

But a Black guy is. That must really sting.

[Friction57]

04:06 PM on 08/02/2010

Newt Epilogue

Gingrich also told Newsmax he will decide whether to run for president by March 2011, adding he is focused on trying to help as many Republicans as possible win in November.

Asked to evaluate President Barack Obama's performance in office, Gingrich said, "Well, I think he's very good at being a celebrity, and not very good at being president. He's perfect on The View but not too good in the Oval Office."

[Friction57]

04:04 PM on 08/02/2010

newt on newt part iii
* If the United States could defeat radical Islam and compete economically with India and China, it "probably would have no major national security problem in the next 50 years."
* The United States would be much more secure today if authorities initially had identified the war on terrorism as being actually a struggle against radical Islam and the effort to impose Shariah.
* The leaks of the Wikileaks documents on Afghanistan should be considered an "unconscionable" act of treason. It isn't only that the documents were leaked, he said. "I think we should also be very, very strong in our condemnation of the newspapers that published them."
* Regarding the mosque controversy at ground zero, Gingrich urged the president and Congress to declare the area around the World Trade Center site a national military battlefield "because that was a battle and it's part of a real war." More Americans were killed at the World Trade Center than at any battle site in the United States since the Civil War. That justifies designating the area as a national battlefield, he said, where only "appropriate" buildings and uses would be allowed near the battlefield.

[NickfromCali]

11:12 PM on 08/02/2010

And North Korea has WHAT to do with Shariah and radical Islam...???

[Friction57]

04:03 PM on 08/02/2010

newt on newt part 2

"We think those five tax changes would dramatically accelerate economic growth and help the economy," Gingrich tells Newsmax.

For most of the interview Gingrich focused on national security, Islamic fundamentalism, and the recent publication of sensitive intelligence about the war in Afghanistan.

Among the other key points the former speaker made:

* Radical Islamists hope to impose Islamic law, called Shariah, in the United States, which Gingrich says "would end America as we know it."
* He called for a "serious inquiry" into the U.S. national security apparatus that has been unable to anticipate and thwart attacks such as the Christmas Day bomber and the attempted bombing in Time Square.

[NickfromCali]

11:10 PM on 08/02/2010

Considering that Sharia law is far more appealing to the extremists on the right than to those extremists on the left...

[Friction57]

04:03 PM on 08/02/2010

Newt on Newt part 1

When asked to give his recommendations for curing the nation's ongoing economic woes, the former speaker pointed to the five-point agenda on his AmericanSolutions.com Web site, which is included in the Economic Freedom Act recently submitted to Congress by Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.

That legislation calls for:

* A 50 percent cut in the Social Security and Medicare tax, both for the employer and the employee
* Zero capital gains tax, which is the rate in China
* A 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, which is the rate in Ireland
* A 100 percent write-off annually for small businesses to buy new equipment, so workers have the best, most modern equipment
* Permanent elimination of the estate or "death" tax "so people have an incentive to work and save their entire lifetime.

[NickfromCali]

11:08 PM on 08/02/2010

Ireland is in economic crisis, may I add

[Mark Grantham]

03:41 PM on 08/02/2010

I am very afraid for the future of people! Who is one over another to tell them what to think or how to act! Everyone is a child of a God, everyone! The idea that "extremists" will do anything, should cause us to look inside ourselves, and ask, what have I done that could be construed as extremism? There are extremists in all faiths, I am more afraid of "christian" extremists than of other faiths! This country was founded, in part, to allow people to worship as they saw fit! No one should feel the need or the power to tell another how or what to believe!

[Jan Allen McDaniel]

06:56 PM on 08/02/2010

" I am more afraid of "christian" extremists than of other faiths!"

A lot of people say this and never account for the glaring inconsistency between the number of attacks by Christian extremists and Muslim extremists.

One would naturally assume that more attacks would equal more fear. Can you say anything about that?

[Mark Fey]

03:37 PM on 08/02/2010

Newt talks tough, I volunteer to have the Pentagon outfit him in a ranger uniform and send him to take out these "threats". Let us see how though he really is.

Big talk, put him on the front line and let him show his metal.

[skykam]

01:23 PM on 08/02/2010

War is peace.
Monogamy is three wives.

[JoeTroll]

01:04 PM on 08/02/2010

Don't tell me, let me guess. We'll pay for this with an even BIGGER tax cut, right?