President Barack Obama's counterterrorism speech last was "stunningly, breathtakingly naive," former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich says.
"He says at one point, wars have to end," Gingrich said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union. "Well, (Leon) Trotsky said, 'You may not care about war, but war cares about you.'"
Gingrich said both Obama's and President George W. Bush's administrations have refused to admit radical Islam is on the offense across the planet. "It is what killed people in Boston. It is what just killed a soldier in London," he said.
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"The president announces cheerfully, 'The war's going to end because I'm not happy being a war president,'" Gingrich said. Pointing to problems in northern Nigeria, the Chinese volunteering to send troops to Mali, and problems in Libya, Gingrich said the United States will never again see the pre-1941 sense of peace that it isn't being threatened.
"No one wants to talk honestly about how big the threat is, how widespread it is, how fanatic it is, and how in its own mind, it's totally legitimate," he said.
On the IRS scandal, Gingrich said the GOP faces a big moment. The opportunity exists for systemic change, he said, because "big government and big bureaucracy" is out of control.
"Is this a 'gotcha' moment," Gingrich asked, "or is this a major educational opportunity?"
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