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Gingrich criticizes Pelosi over Syria visit |
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By Chris Good
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Posted: 04/08/07 12:27 PM [ET] |
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) criticized current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Sunday for visiting Syria.
“I think it’s very important not to have two foreign policies,” Gingrich said on Fox News Sunday. “And I think it’s very dangerous for America to do what Speaker Pelosi did.”
Every legislator should make fact-finding trips around the globe, Gingrich said, but when lawmakers attempt diplomacy, it confuses foreign leaders and misrepresents America’s policy.
“She claimed to be carrying a diplomatic message from the Israeli prime minister, which the Israeli prime minister promptly disowned and said she got it wrong,” Gingrich said, referring to Pelosi’s talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, which led Pelosi to tell President Bashar al-Assad of Syria that Israel would work for peace.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) defended Pelosi’s trip, citing North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons while the U.S. refused to engage it in talks.
Gingrich also said the U.S. should work to replace the “outlaw regime” in Iran. According to Gingrich, Iran’s capture of 15 British sailors “humiliated” the West, the British, and the United Nations.
“We should be actively seeking to replace that government by bringing every kind of non-military pressure to bear we can, to destabilize that government and help the people of Iran replace it with a moderate government,” Gingrich said. |
