Newt on Iran

NEWT

Plunked down in the middle of a stiffish discussion,“What Should Britain, the U.S., and Europe Do About Iran?,” is this dialog between Newt Gingrich and Hugh Hewitt. Does any other presidential possibility seem capable of tactical clarity on this level?  I think not. Bold action and quivering supplication are inimical, so that eliminates any Democrat straight away. McCain ought to have tactical and strategic insight, but has never displayed any with even a modicum of consistency. Giuliani? Maybe. Newt's always been a big idea guy, which makes him a moving target for media snipers. Too bad. He was smart enough to destroy the Evil Empire in 1994, so maybe he can devise a way to destroy the NeoCom media that's killing the nation. HH: Now let's get to the first major issue of the day, which is Iran. Mr. Speaker, if the United Kingdom feels obliged to use force, if diplomacy fails to get their people back, will you applaud? NG: I think there are two very simple steps that should be taken. The first is to use a covert operation, or a special forces operation, to knock out the only gasoline producing refinery in Iran. There's only one. And the second is to simply intercede by naval force, and block any tankers from bringing gasoline to Iran ... HH: Would you do? Would you urge them ... NG: And say to the Iranians, you know, you can keep the sailors as long as you want, but in about 30 days, everybody in your country will be walking. HH: So how long would you give them, to give them that ultimatum, the Iranians? NG: I would literally do that. I would say to them, I would right now say to them privately, within the next week, your refinery will no longer work. And within the following week, there will be no tankers arriving. Now if you would like to avoid being humiliated publicly, we recommend you calmly and quietly give them back now. But frankly, if you'd prefer to show the planet that you're tiny and we're not, we're prepared to simply cut off your economy, and allow you to go back to walking and using oxen to pull carts, because you will have no gasoline left. HH: I agree with that 100 percent. Would your recommendation to the United States president be the same if Iran seized our forces? NG: Absolutely. I mean, the reason I say that, it is the least violent, least direct thing you can do. It uses our greatest strength ... you know, the mismatch in naval power is absolute. And so you don't have to send troops into Iran. Everybody on the left is waiting for conservatives to say things that allow them to run amok and parade in San Francisco, and claim that we're warmongers. I want to avoid war by intelligently using our power to eliminate the option of sustaining an economy, so that the Iranian dictatorship will be shown to be the hollow dictatorship it is, so the people of Iran decide they'd like to have a decent government with real electricity and real gasoline, so they overthrow it. And I want to do that without risking a single American life, or being engaged in a single direct confrontation. And naval power lets you do that." Jack Hamilton