The author has twisted what he said, I think. I don’t think that Gingrich meant that Bush is waging a phony war. He meant that the US in general is waging a phony war. And what he meant by that is that we are pulling our punches. Not that it’s a neoconservative conspiracy.
We say we are fighting a war, and yet, we are not fighting it like we are serious. For example, we now have rules that restrict the president from intercepting terrorist phone calls from Pakistan to the US. I guaranty you that if the Japanese had called someone in the US during WWII, Roosevelt would not have required US intelligence to get a warrant before intercepting the call.
And what he meant by that is that we are pulling our punches.
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In that case, it’s a correct statement. We have been pulling our punches in this PC war..........and that will lose it for us!
“And what he meant by that is that we are pulling our punches.”
I agree with your assessment of what he meant, and believe that he is correct.