Newt Gingrich Calls War on Terror a Phony War

I’ve never heard Newt Gingrich make so much sense as in these comments on the war on terror being phony:

“We’ve been engaged in a phony war,” said Gingrich. “The only people who have been taking this seriously are the combat military.”

His remarks seemed to reflect, in part, the findings of a National Intelligence Estimate made public last month.

In the estimate, the U.S. intelligence community concluded that six years of U.S. efforts to degrade the al-Qaida terrorist group had left the organization constrained but still potent, having “protected or regenerated” the capability to attack the United States in ways that have left the country “in a heightened threat environment.”

“We have to take this seriously,” said Gingrich.

“We used to be a serious country. When we got attacked at Pearl Harbor, we took on Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany,” he said, referring to World War II.

“We beat all three in less than four years. We’re about to enter the seventh year of this phony war against … [terrorist groups], and we’re losing.”

Gingrich didn’t express a very opinion of those who have been in charge:

“We were in charge for six years,” he said, referring to the period between 2001 and early 2007, when the GOP controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. “I don’t think you can look and say that was a great success.”

While he is right that the war on terror is phony, and that we should be concentrating more on energy independence, I’d be even more impressed if he discussed George Bush’s negligence before 9/11 which allowed the attack to occur and how counterproductive it was to invade Iraq.

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