Gingrich: Afghanistan "Won't End Well"

Visiting Iowa, former House speaker Newt Gingrich became the second major GOP figure to express doubts on the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.

When the former speaker of the House visits Iowa, it is news. When the former speaker of the House visits Iowa and then says that the War in Afghanistan “isn't going to end well,” that is bigger news.

The em>Des Moines Register< reports that Congressman Newt Gingrich told a group of reporters that the war in Afghanistan “isn't going to end well.” He elaborated: “We are in enormous danger because we consistently underestimate how hard this is” and added that David Petraeus' counter-insurgency doctrine “doesn't go deep enough for some place like Afghanistan... You're dealing with Afghan culture that is fundamentally different than us, in ways we don't understand... The war 'is not going to end well.”

The comments were made while Congressman Gingrich was speaking about Michael Steele's comments about the war. Steele asserted at a fundraiser that the war in Afghanistan was a “war of Obama’s choosing” and “is not something that the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.”

It must be noted that Gingrich is openly considering a run at the presidency. He is now the second major Republican figure to suggest that the War in Afghanistan may not be wise...

Follow Jeb Golinkin on Twitter: @Jgolinkin