Newt Gingrich in State of Denial, by Bob Woodward

On War & Peace: 2003: Post-Iraq policy errors pushing US "off a cliff"

In early December, Newt Gingrich decided to create some public pressure with his complaints about Bremer. "I was planting a flag because the things that had started in September weren't happening fast enough," he later explained. He gave an interview to Newsweek magazine in which he said the US was going "off a cliff" in Iraq.

"I'm told over there that CPA stands for 'Can't Produce Anything,'" Gingrich told the magazine. He did not attack Bremer personally, but his core argument was that governing should have been placed in the hands of the Iraqis much sooner. Gingrich then went on "Meet the Press" on Sunday, December 7, 2003, and said the postwar model should have been what the US had done in Afghanistan, quickly installing Hamid Karzai.

Iraqis wanted their own government, Gingrich said. "The longer we keep Americans front and center, the greater the danger that Iraqi nationalism will decide it has to be anti-American."

Source: State of Denial, by Bob Woodward, p.274 Oct 1, 2006

The above quotations are from State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III, by Bob Woodward. Click here for other excerpts from State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III, by Bob Woodward. Click here for other excerpts by Newt Gingrich. Click here for a profile of Newt Gingrich.
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