Gingrich: We're losing "phony" "war on terror"
by kos

Gingrich is once again straying from the officially sanctioned GOP playbook:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday the Bush administration is waging a "phony war" on terrorism, warning that the country is losing ground against the kind of Islamic radicals who attacked the country on Sept. 11, 2001.

A more effective approach, said Gingrich, would begin with a national energy strategy aimed at weaning the country from its reliance on imported oil and some of the regimes that petro-dollars support.

"None of you should believe we are winning this war. There is no evidence that we are winning this war," the ex-Georgian told a group of about 300 students attending a conference for collegiate conservatives.

Newt went on to make the case for Democratic control next year:

"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."

And he continues to talk as if he wants to take on the pygmies currently running for the nomination of his party:

"I believe we need to find leaders who are prepared to tell the truth ... about the failures of the performance of Republicans ... failed bureaucracies ... about how dangerous the world is," he said when asked what kind of Republican he would back for president.

So to recap -- Gingrich says Republicans were horrible at governance, that we're losing the Iraq War, and that Bush's "war on terror" formulation is, as Edwards has argued, a fabrication.