Newt Gingrich and the Iran Threat
The GOP Stalwart's False Predictions and Phony History
| by Arash Norouzi |
Gingrich's Top Nuclear Weapons Threats to America:
You’ve mentioned these various groups within Iran, but what is your knowledge of them?
In 1994, Republicans captured the majority of the House of Representatives for the first time since the Eisenhower administration. This was accomplished in no small part with the help of House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich, who soon became Speaker of the House and Time's Man of the Year.
Gingrich has remained one of the GOP's most powerful and influential figures. In addition to his 20 years in Congress, he is also a former college history professor, author of 23 books (fiction and non) including the significant Contract With America, and a regular political analyst for FOX news channel. In May 2011, he announced his candicacy in the 2012 Presidential race.
Gingrich was among the first to portray the threat from Iran under Ahmadinejad in apocalyptic terms. Forecasting a second Holocaust, Gingrich once predicted that regime change would need to take place in the next 2-3 years to avoid war with Iran. That was in early 2006.
In his December 2010 keynote address to the Heritage Foundation, Gingrich outlined the top nuclear weapons threats to the United States. The number one threat, in his view, was the only country in his list that did not—and still does not—possess such weapons.
1. Iran
2. North Korea
3. Pakistan
4. China
5. Russia
Newt sees no diplomatic solutions with Iran, for he views the regime as irrational and suicidal. His suggestions for bringing it down begin with economic pressure, covert funding of opposition groups, and sabotaging their ability to refine gasoline, but include the use of force if deemed necessary. In 2006, he suggested the U.S. help create the conditions for labor strikes in Iran's oil sector, falsely citing them as a major contributor to the downfall of Mossadegh in 1953. Yet in reality, the oil labor strikes began prior to Mossadegh's premiership, and were directed at the British owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, not the government. By 1953, nationalization had succeeded, and AIOC had become the National Iranian Oil Company.
Newt Gingrich Interview
Human Events, February 2006 [link]
That is the best first step. To the degree we could replace the regime peacefully, I’m for it. To the degree we can’t replace the regime peacefully, I’m for replacing the regime. But we have seen large riots. We have seen, as I said, a thousand candidates who were rejected. So, the first thing I’d do is call the thousand people who were knocked off the list.
Quietly.
Quietly. We do know that there’s a trade union movement actively talking with non-Iranian trade union leaders. One of the first things that brought down Mossadegh in ’53 is that there were strikes in the oilfield. We do know that there are trade leaders who are saying, “Boy, if we had a strike fund, if our families were going to be fed, we’d sure be interested in fighting.” Remember, this is a country that’s only 51% Persian. Iran is a very complex, multi-ethnic society.
Related links:
Senator John Kerry on the Green Revolution: This is an Iranian Moment
Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA Chief, on Iran's Nuclear File
John Bolton Justifies 1953 Coup in Iran
MOSSADEGH t-shirts - "If I sit silently, I have sinned"
