What Gingrich Said About the War Against Radical Islamic Terrorism

Few people saw all of the speeches at this week's Republican convention, but some of the speakers took very strong and noteworthy - stands on key issues facing the country.

One of those was former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who laid out the threat that radical Islamic terrorism poses to the United States and the West, especially in light of recent terror attacks around the world.

As would be expected at a political convention, Gingrich of course spoke in favor of the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but he also explained why the threat is so important, and why it has to be faced - now.

Here's a look at what he had to say:
 
Tonight I want to speak about a subject that has dominated my thinking for decades: How do we keep America safe?

Keeping America safe is the first responsibility of the American president.

There have been many fascinating things to watch about the extraordinary, historic rise of Donald Trump.

But the most significant has been Donald Trump's courage to tell some important truths about our national security.

For example:

• We are at War
• We are at War with Radical Islamists.
• They are determined to kill us.
• They are stronger than we admit
• And there is NO substitute for victory.

In contrast to Donald Trump, our national security and foreign policy elites, led by Hillary Clinton, are incapable of speaking with such honesty.

While they lie about the threat, we need to tell the truth about the danger.

If our enemies had their way, not a single woman in this room could define her future.

If our enemies had their way, gays, lesbians and transgender citizens would be put to death-as they are today in the Islamic State and Iran.

If our enemies had their way, every person on earth would be subject to conversion by the sword and to a cruel and violent system of law.

There would be no individual liberty.

There would be no equality.

There would be no freedom.
 
If you doubt we are at war…

If you doubt that this threat is as real as I say…

Let me refresh your memory:

On Monday, an Afghan refugee in Germany used an axe and knives to slash and wound train passengers while shouting "Allahu Akbar."

Last week, ISIS claimed responsibility after a Tunisian man drove a cargo truck into crowd in Nice, France. He murdered 84 people, including at least 10 children and three Americans, and injured over 300 others.

Two weeks ago, almost 300 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded in bombing attacks in Baghdad.

Two days before that, radical Islamists in Bangladesh killed 20 hostages, including 3 American college students.

A few days before that, at the Istanbul airport in Turkey, ISIS attackers armed with guns and bombs killed 44 people and injured hundreds more.

Last month, a radical Islamist in Paris stalked a French police officer to his home, where he murdered the officer and tortured his wife to death in front of their three-year-old son, while streaming it all on social media.

He was pondering whether to kill the three-year-old when he was killed by police.

Two days before that, an attacker pledging allegiance to ISIS killed 49 people in an Orlando nightclub and wounded dozens more.

All this in just the past 37 days.

We cannot let ourselves grow numb to these accumulating atrocities.

One analysis estimated that since January of 2015, some 30,000 people have been killed at the hands of terrorists.

Donald Trump is right.

We are at war with radical Islamists, we are losing the war, and we must change course to win the war.

Let me be very clear, because I know the news media will do their best to distort this.

We have nothing to fear from the vast majority of Muslims-in the United States, or around the world.

The vast majority are peaceful. They are often the victims of the violence themselves.

They are people we would be happy to have as our friends and neighbors.

The challenge is, when even a small percentage of a billion, six hundred million people support violence against those who disagree with them, that is still a giant recruiting base.

For example, Pew Research finds that just 9 percent of Muslims in Pakistan view ISIS favorably.

Unfortunately, 9 percent is 16 million people.

And that's just one country.

So the truth is, although we are losing the war with radical Islamists, we have been very lucky.

The danger we face is much worse than the horrors that happened in Germany on New Year's Eve, when twelve-hundred women were assaulted.

It's worse than what's happening in France, where there are stabbings of Jews in the streets and the nation's security chief warned recently that France is "on the brink of civil war."

It's worse than what's happening in Israel, where average citizens fear for their lives whenever they leave their homes.

The danger is even worse than September 11th, when 19 hijackers murdered almost 3,000 Americans.

The worst case scenario is losing an American city to terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction.

Instead of losing 3,000 people in one morning, we could lose more than 300,000.

Instead of losing 2 great buildings, we could lose block after block after block to a nuclear event.

That's not just my view. Back in January of 2001, the Hart Rudman Commission warned that terrorists, "will acquire weapons of mass destruction...and some will use them. Americans will likely die on American soil, possibly in large numbers."

15 years later, the dangers are even greater.

In a world where Pakistan has nuclear weapons...

where North Korea has nuclear weapons...

and where Iran--the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism--is close to having nuclear weapons...this, a catastrophic attack on innocent Americans, is a very real threat.

Which brings us to the heart of the matter.

We are sleepwalking through history as though this is All About Politics.

It is not.

It is about our safety and our survival as a country.

We cannot keep in place the people and the systems that have brought us to this point and that LIE to us every single day about the threat.

That is why every American should be terrified at the prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Hillary Clinton has been right at the center of this dishonesty.

We know this administration and its allies lied to us about the Iran nuclear deal. We know it because they openly bragged about it to the New York Times.

We know that Hillary Clinton lied to us knowingly about the terror attack on our Benghazi consulate.

We know that Hillary Clinton and President Obama lie to the American people when they say they can safely screen the Syrian refugees. They cannot. And yet Hillary wants to increase the number by 500 percent.

So when you hear about Hillary's dishonesty, or the emails, or taking millions from the Saudis and other Middle Eastern dictatorships--remember: this is not about politics.

The cost of Hillary's dishonesty could be the loss of America as we know it.

The first step forward to safety is electing a leader who will be truthful with the American people about the realities we face.

Only then will we understand, support, and demand the strategies required to confront this threat.