AIPAC Policy Conference: Words of Newt Gingrich

These are some highlights from the speech given by Newt Gingrich at the Afternoon Plenary on Sunday.

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AIPAC is not just about Israel, AIPAC is about the American-Israeli relationship and the futures of America and Israel are intertwined.

Many around the world are incapable or recognizing the truth and incapable of confronting lies.

We are at a dangerous time.

In 1909, virtually nobody in England would have believed the British Empire was about to disintegrate and the world would never recover from the shattering cost of WW I.

In 1939, decent people were trying desperately to avoid the reality of Adolph Hitler. Winston Churchill said WW II was the unnecessary war; it could have been avoided if any of the European democracies had the courage to confront Hitler earlier.

In 1979, the Soviet Empire was on the march, everyone wanted detente. Along came one person, Ronald Reagan. A reporter asked him his vision of the end of the Cold War. He said: "we win, they lose."

Reagan understood something very profound. In concert with Pope John Paul II and Margaret Thatcher, he brought to bear prssures which in eleven years caused the Soviet Union to disappear.

We now are facing decisions which in the future will have our children recognizing whether we today were in 1939 or in 1979.

If we have the courage to confront the truth, we will be surprised by the speed with which our enemies collapse.

The first key to the Reagan strategy was recognizing confronting evil head on was the single most powerful step that could be taken. That would mean suspending Iran's right to vote in the United Nations as long as its president called for the destruction of Israel.

As long as Hamas governs Gaza, there is no pattern for peace.

The great tragedy of the last administration was it was inarticulate - that is an enormous disadvantage - and the threats it was faced with are far more catastrophic than any of our leaders were prepared to talk about and far more difficult than any of our leaders were prepared to talk about.

Fixing Pakistan is an enormous problem. Stopping the Taliban is an enormous problem. Stopping Iran is an enormous problem. The funding of terrorism from Saudi Arabia is an enormous problem.

We must free America from its dependence on foreign oil.

It was the deliberate driving down of the price of oil which bankrupted the Soviet Union and if we deliberately drove down the price of oil Iran would not have the money to fund the terrorists and develop nuclear weapos.

"We are on the edge of catastrophic problems."

Three nuclear explosions at the right altitude would take out all electrical power in the United States.

We must decide we will not let the evil, aggressive Iranian regime have nuclear weapons. An Hiroshima-size bomb set off in the vicinity of the Capitol would have a radius of a mile, within which there are 100,000 people.

"There are some regimes you will not have a deal with because they are inherently evil."

Talking in good faith with Adolph Hitler would have been a complete dead loser. Ahmedinejad, if he had the weapons, would be every bit as dangerous.