Gingrich: Clinton looks 'foolish' on Iraq

WASHINGTON, May 6 (UPI) -- Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich Sunday said Sen. Hillary Clinton's call for repealing congressional authority for the Iraq war "made her look foolish."

"Well, I think, quite frankly, it made her look foolish," Gingrich told host Bob Schieffer on CBS's "Face the Nation." If she honestly believed that we should get out of Iraq, vote no on the funding. The Congress has every authority under the Constitution to force the president out of Iraq."

Clinton, D-N.Y., last week said and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., would introduce legislation to end authority for the war in Iraq, proposing Oct. 11, 2007, as the expiration date for the congressional resolution approved Oct. 11, 2002.

Gingrich said Clinton's proposal was "essentially an effort by Senator Clinton to appease her left who are very angry at her for, you know, not having gone back on her vote on the war."

Gingrich, a Georgia Republican, acknowledged the GOP would have harder job in the 2008 elections than Democrats, "because all they have to do is say 'not this.' That's exactly what the 2006 campaign was - 'not this.'"

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said Democrats have to send a message that "we want to stop the war."