Beltway Happenings
July 16, 2006--In an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," former Speaker Newt Gingrich pointed to recent terrorist acts carried out and planned around the world and stated, "I mean, we, we are in the early stages of what I would describe as the third world war, and frankly, our bureaucracies aren't responding fast enough, we don't have the right attitude about this."  

Speaking about the outbreak of violence in the Mideast Gingrich defended Israel's actions, asking viewers to imagine if missiles were raining down on Miami every day.  He identified the culprit as the "Iran-Syria-Hamas-Hezbollah alliance."  

Gingrich had tough words on North Korea, stating that, "Instead, we should destroy the missile on its site before it is launched.  America's actions must be decisive.  The time for talk is over.  Either they dismantle the missile or the United States should dismantle it."  He described the United States' policy toward North Korea as "totally failed."  "We have been talking to the North Koreans through two administrations, and they have been building nuclear weapons while we talked, and I think we have to confront how really dangerous this is," he said.  

Gingrich said of Iran's and North Korea's nuclear activities that "these two dictatorships are playing us like a ping pong game."  

Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) appeared jointly with Gingrich on the program.

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Copyright © 2006  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action