MANCHESTER — Former House Speaker and current Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Monday he would use cyber warfare to bring about regime change in Iran and would use military force to destroy its nuclear weapons.

In an interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader Monday, Gingrich, who polls show in a dead heat with former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, suggested ways to trim the federal budget, defended programs he supported while in Congress like Medicare Part D, a prescription drug program for seniors, and touted his experience in both Congress and as an executive branch advisor.

Asked about the killing of United States spies in Iran and Lebanon, Gingrich said “our goal should be to take out the regime.” He said the maximum pressure should be brought to bear on Iran, noting the Obama administration has not done that very effectively.

“We should be prepared — if we get to the point where the military believes Iran is truly on the edge of getting nuclear weapons — to use military force,” Gingrich said. “However, we should do everything we could before that to break the regime.”

He said electronic warfare should be used not only to attack Iran's nuclear development program, but also its economic system as a way to “break them down.”

Gingrich also had harsh words for the Saudi Arabians, saying the country is “the largest funders of terrorist education in the world and we tolerate it because we don't want to make them mad at us because we need the oil.”

Gingrich noted many Arab countries are moving closer to Islamic governments and even in Iraq where “we supposedly won,” about 700,000 Christians have moved to other countries.

“That is why we need to reassess this whole thing. I don't see anything out of the last decade that should indicate we are winning,” Gingrich said.

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Turning to domestic issues, Gingrich believes many federal programs need to be “rethought from the ground up” and later in the day unveiled plans to overhaul the Medicare and Social Security systems through private insurance and accounts, and the Medicaid program by sending states block grants.

“If you want a leader who can change Washington, you need a person who can attract good managers,” he said.

He noted he advised executive branch agencies for six years during the Bush administration and had many years of experience in Congress.

Gingrich said modern management techniques could save the federal government as much as $500 billion a year, but would require doing away with the civil service system.

He called the “Super Committee” which failed to reach agreement before Monday on budget reductions, an act of desperation in mid-summer by a group that could not fix anything.

But he said an automatic cut of $500 billion in the defense department budget because the Super Committee fails to reach agreement, “strikes me as crazy.”

Gingrich said the Pentagon needs to be reformed to do away with waste, but first you need to determine what the threats are, what are the goals and how do you achieve them.

Significant budget cuts to the military is what the British did in 1920s, Gingrich said, “and that came back to haunt them.”

Gingrich deflected criticism of his business dealings, particularly contracts his companies — The Gingrich Group — had with Freddie Mac and Freddie Mae and other organizations and businesses once he left office.

He didn't know how much his companies were paid by the two mortgage giants, but guessed it might in about $1.6 million. Gingrich said he offered strategic advice about housing, particularly how to help poor people get into housing.

“I was a private citizen and I am allowed to be in private business,” Gingrich said, noting he did no lobbying for the two organizations.

Gingrich has also been criticized by the Wall Street Journal and others for working for an ethanol-producing company and then supporting ethanol subsidies.

Monday Gingrich said while he supports the subsidy he does not believe it will be needed if a new renewable fuel standard is adopted. He also supports oil subsidies, he said, because they support small independent exploration companies. Gingrich also said he supports opening federal lands to exploration to help make the country energy-independent.

Gingrich defended his support for the Medicare Part D prescription drug program for seniors. “To have a Medicare program that pays for heart surgery but not Lipitor is very destructive,” he said.

Despite the criticism, Gingrich noted he has been picking up the support of Tea Party leaders who appreciate someone with the values of a Washington outsider, “but who knows enough about Washington to be effective.”

The last four years have shown you need someone who knows how to make the system work, he said.

“We are having a national conversation. This is the biggest choice this country has faced since 1865. Either you believe in the American people or you don't,” Gingrich said. “People can ask me anything they want because I am asking them to loan me the power to be President of the United States.”