Newt: Iran's calculated strike a 'PR gesture' to look tough
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, says Iran did not move in a way that forces Trump to retaliate, but the U.S. needs to develop a strategy that changes the regime
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday that there needs to be a long-term strategy to defeat Iran’s regime, which has been "at war" with the United States for 40 years.
“What happens is, do we design a strategy that actually changes the regime or do we play games this week and then three months from now, they do something horrible and we play games for two weeks and then they do something horrible,” Gingrich said, explaining that Iran is devoted to driving America from the region.
Gingrich explained that since the Iranian dictatorship has been at war with the United States since November 1979, there has been an endless cycle of retaliation without a long-term regime change strategy on the U.S.
IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER CALLS MISSILE STRIKE AT BASES A 'SLAP IN THE FACE,' WARNS IT'S NOT ENOUGH
Reacting to Iran’s ballistic missile attacks targeting U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq Wednesday, Gingrich called it a “public relations gesture" and was likely "carefully calculated" to show force without killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
“I think the mullahs believe they have to look tough,” Gingrich said, noting that they are leaving it up to the president to make a move.
He said President Trump should not "assume" that regime change in Iran is unattainable since many Iranians are not happy with the state of the country.
"The Soviet Union was pretty darn big and it collapsed. ... I think the average Iranian is a little tired of watching all their money go for overseas terrorism just to make the mullahs happy," he said, arguing it's not acceptable to engage in sporadic conflict with Iran for the next 20 to 30 years with the same regime in place.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that the missile attacks targeting U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq were "a slap in the face" to the U.S.
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Iran fired as many as 15 ballistic missiles into Iraq Wednesday, officials said, in a major retaliation by the rogue regime after a U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week.
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