Posted on 05/14/2003 6:27:07 AM PDT by truthandlife
This exclusive interview is republished with the permission of World Magazine
Washington, D.C. -- Newt Gingrich is making news again, sharply criticizing President Bush's top diplomat in an exclusive interview with WORLD magazine.
Last month the former Speaker of the House warned that the idea of Secretary of State Colin Powell going to Syria to meet "with a terrorist-supporting, secret police-wielding dictator" was "ludicrous."
Powell struck back. "He's accusing the president of a ludicrous act," Powell told a TV interviewer. "Mr. Gingrich was taking a broad swipe and a shot at the policies of the president of the United States. He was allegedly doing it because he has some dissatisfaction with the way the State Department runs. But he missed the State Department and hit the president."
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage then told USA Today that, "It's clear that Mr. Gingrich is off his meds (medications) and out of therapy."
Now Gingrich tells WORLD that Powell struck a "bad deal" in Damascus, says Powell has "no interest" in reforming the State Department bureaucracy, and warned that putting too much pressure on Israel to make a peace deal with Yasser Arafat could be a "suicide pact."
Gingrich also spoke out on domestic politics, warning that "the economy not growing is the biggest threat" to President Bush's reelection and urging the GOP to focus on health care reform.
The interview with WORLD magazine:
WORLD: Mr. Speaker, you sparked a lot of controversy by opposing Secretary Powell's trip to Syria. Now that he's met with Syrian President Bashar Assad, would you say the trip was successful?
GINGRICH: No trip to Damascus by any American Secretary of State has had any serious effect on the dictatorship of the Assad family in the last thirty years.…The terrorist groups in Damascus reported the day after Secretary Powell's visit that they were not closing their offices despite the reassurances he had been given by the dictator.
This follows precisely the pattern of dishonesty and blatant lying we have seen from Syrian dictators for thirty years. Assad got a photo opportunity with a famous American and America got lied to. That strikes me as a bad deal.
WORLD: Have you spoken with Secretary Powell or the White House since making your remarks?
GINGRICH: I have talked with people from the White House regularly. I get messages from people inside the State Department who agree with my criticism of the current State bureaucracy. No one from the Secretary's office has called me and given the personal nature of some of their comments (attack the messenger if you can't defeat the message is an old rule of Washington politics).
I suspect they have no interest in pursuing ideas or discussing reform. Over the last two years I've met with the Secretary and his deputy and found no interest in serious reform.
WORLD: What are the biggest challenges the U.S. now faces in the Middle East?
GINGRICH: First, to win the second campaign in Afghanistan and Iraq to grow societies with safety, health, prosperity and freedom for the Afghan and Iraqi people.
Second, the U.S. must help grow a Palestinian political movement and government willing to defeat the terrorists....As long as the Palestinians who want peace do not defeat the forces of terrorism, the Israelis will feel compelled to fight the terrorists and it will be impossible to achieve peace. The focus should not be on diplomacy.
The focus should be on growing and strengthening the forces of peace in Palestinian society and driving out the terrorists (of whom Arafat is one).
Third, the United States has a continuing challenge with dictatorships seeking weapons of mass destruction (Iran, Syria, Libya in the Middle East) and with terrorist organizations.
WORLD: Do you support an independent Palestinian state, and how would you assess the prospects of reaching a peace agreement in the next 12 months or so?
GINGRICH: A Palestinian state should arise as soon as Palestinians defeat the terrorists and prove they could be neighbors Israel could live in peace with. Negotiations over a Palestinian state while there are still terrorists [that are] tolerated by the Palestinian Authority is a suicide pact for Israel.
WORLD: What are the biggest threats to President Bush's reelection?
GINGRICH: The economy not growing is the biggest threat. Republicans become complacent is the second biggest threat.
WORLD: How damaged is the Democratic Party after opposing the war in Iraq?
GINGRICH: If the economy recovers, President Bush will win handily. If the economy stays in the doldrums the President will face a tough campaign but will probably still win. In the age of 24-hour television news things can change very fast. The Democrats will have a lively primary campaign and it is impossible to predict whom they will nominate or how effective their nominee will be.
WORLD: Ten years after the Clinton administration rolled out its "Hillary Care" approach to nationalizing health care, you've written a new book on a free market approach to health care reform. Why?
GINGRICH: Republicans should focus on growing the economy [and] creating a better system of health care….Health care is the most important challenge Americans face in their daily lives.
It is the largest segment of the economy (over 13% and growing)….We need to have an individually centered system where you have knowledge about your own health, you own your own electronic medical record, you have an insurance plan which has a tax free build up of interest on a health reimbursement account that gives you more decision making power about your own health and the system should focus on wellness and prevention so you don't become a patient unless it is absolutely unavoidable....
The title of our book is Saving Lives and Saving Money [because] we believe that applying best practices can actually lead to better health at lower cost. We are [also] establishing a Center for Health Transformation on the Internet that will help people, companies and governments learn more about better outcomes at lower cost….Readers who want to know more about it could go to www.newt.org and see what we are doing.
WORLD: What are the dangers of demonizing the pharmaceutical industry?
GINGRICH: The American pharmaceutical industry saves thousands of lives everyday by its contributions to better health. With each new discovery its products become more important. People attack the pharmaceutical industry for higher prices when those are actually a result of a badly designed market.
If people had access to an Internet-based system for drugs like Travelocity and Expedia are [available] for airlines reservations then people could make knowledgable choices about prices and effectiveness and there would be the same downward pressure on drug prices that there are on airline prices.
The pharmaceutical companies are paying the price for a market that has been designed wrong but we should focus on fixing the market not on attacking the drug companies.
"Global Economy" my ass. China has the monopoly.Type the word COSCO in your search engine, a huge American shipping company and our economy and jobs are in a downfall, and we wonder why? Pick up anything in your home or office it is all MADE IN CHINA. If this Chinese Monopoly ends, and our foundries , factories, steel mills, cease closing for overseas jobs our economy would ROCK,once again!
That we are not in a recession with the Chinese Monopoly is a creditto Bush, but he can do better.
Going public embarrasses the White House, and that ain't a good thing to do, not with this President's memory and expectations of loyalty.
I think Bush sent Powell to Damascus to convey a message that no government would put in writing or say on a telephone. Sometimes there is no substitue for meeting face to face.
Huh? Where did he do that? I read no criticisms of Bush, only of Colin Powell, who is shaping up as the Jayson Blair of the Administration, and his deputy. Powell is being given wide latitude because of politics and race and he has ben wrong on every position he has advocated, from Kyoto, to Arafat to the U.N.
Yep. How soon they forget.
The very scenerio I just named is probably being debated daily in our WH. with 'skipping Syria' as a factor. But imagine the criticisim of Bush many will be saying he wants everything, all cleaned up like a cowboy, with mideast peace as a trophy. The dems would cringe at the very audacity of the gonads this move would take.
I'm afraid it already has become that in alot of ways. If you dare criticise Bush then you are just an evil communist democrat to most folks here.
Not the Biblical one but one here on Free Republic between the supporters of Bush and the supporters of Sharon. Round 2 after Bush meets Sharon. Who will blink?
The democrats are looking for ANYTHING and sinking their own selves so the question of this thread is really, do we have the luxury (PR wise) of criticizing our own? Yes.
Newt has bad form and timing. If he wants to criticize the state dept. and is careless with his timing then why for the love of God does he not mention that "Homeland Security" did not clean up all of our federal agencies.Why does he not bring up the problem with our lack of jobs and our sour economy is because China has a monopoly on the world economy and this needs to stop.
My point is...if Newt were to lay all of this out would it matter? His reputation is that of having bad form and timing so he is worthless. I believe he is just trying to get publicity because he is trying to sell his latest book (s). So this is why I say.... Shuddup Newt!
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