Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) smiles during a news conference on the legislation passed in the first 100 legislative hours of the 110th Congress in the Capitol in Washington January 18, 2007. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Posted on 01/26/2007 4:34:55 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record)'s visit to Iraq is a clear sign the newly empowered Democratic Congress is not going to abide by the notion that foreign policy is the sole province of the White House.
While President Bush met with military leaders in the Oval Office Friday, she and anti-war Rep. Jack Murtha turned up in Baghdad.
The timing of the trip, from the Bush administration's point of view, couldn't have been worse. It came just days after the president asked Congress in his State of the Union address to give his revised Iraq strategy a chance to work.
It also provided for dueling photo ops: Bush at the White House with his commanders and Pelosi and her congressional delegation in the heavily fortified Green Zone with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The lawmakers also visited U.S. troops on what they billed as a fact-finding mission and one to "thank our troops."
While the administration did not take issue with the visit by Pelosi and Murtha, Bush on Friday had a message for congressional opponents who want to stop his plan to increase U.S. troop strength in Iraq. "I'm the decision-maker" on the war effort, he said.
An increasingly assertive Congress is signaling that it, too, wants a part in those decisions.
"They see blood is in the water," said Fred Greenstein, professor emeritus of politics at Princeton University.
"It's sort of the idealized view: that politics stops at the water's edge and the president is commander in chief and the chief diplomat. But members of Congress see a president who is in his low 30s in approval, they need to be re-elected and they know what their constituents are for," Greenstein said.
Bush's approval on handling Iraq was at 32 percent in a mid-January AP-AOL News poll.
Pelosi has been a sharp critic of the administration's conduct of the war and has led a drive in Congress against his decision to send 21,500 more troops.
"We stressed our belief that it is well past time for the Iraqis to take primary responsibility for the security of their nation," Pelosi said in a statement after she and the other six members of her delegation met with the Iraqi prime minister and top U.S. officials in Baghdad.
"The delegation's view is that American forces should quickly begin to transition from a combat role to one focused on training, counterterrorism, force protection and controlling Iraq's borders," she said — in direct challenge to Bush's decision to add more troops.
Many in Congress have accused al-Maliki of foot-dragging and have challenged his capability to quell the sectarian violence tearing apart his country.
Pelosi's group was also going to Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to officials in the region. The dates were not announced.
Murtha, D-Pa., who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee for defense, will have a big say in future spending decisions on Iraq. A one-time hawk on military issues, Murtha for more than a year has been one the most outspoken war critics.
A key piece of Bush's new Iraq strategy is increasing reconstruction efforts, with the U.S. pledging an additional $1.2 billion. Also, Bush is expected to send Congress next month a Pentagon request for about $100 billion more for Iraq and Afghanistan.
While Congress has constitutional pursestrings control over war spending, most lawmakers seem hesitant to support a cutoff of funds that might endanger troops now in Iraq.
Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney say they will not budge from sending more U.S. troops to Iraq no matter how much Congress opposes the plan. The administration argues the money for the additional troops already has been appropriated.
It grates on all administrations when members of Congress or private citizens engage in unsolicited overseas diplomacy on their own.
Unauthorized negotiations "directly or indirectly" with a foreign power by a private citizen is prohibited by the Logan Act. However, no one has ever been prosecuted under the law, which dates to 1799. And it is doubtful it could be applied to members of Congress.
Still, some administration allies have accused four senators — Democrats John Kerry of Massachusetts, Christopher Dodd (news, bio, voting record) of Connecticut and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Republican Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania — of engaging in such freelance diplomacy by going to Syria in December to sound out President Bashar Assad on his intentions on Iraq and Lebanon.
The Clinton administration chafed in 1999 at separate diplomatic efforts by civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and by a group of U.S. and Russian legislators led by then-Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., to strike a peace deal to end the conflict in Yugoslavia.
Former President Carter's freelance mission to North Korea in 1994 to nail down a nuclear deal with Pyongyang was praised by the Clinton White House at the time, but it helped complicate later U.S. dealings with North Korea.
Even if the Pelosi trip visit vexed the White House, her visit — to a U.S. ally — was not challenged. After all, Dennis Hastert, the former Republican speaker, visited Iraq, as have many lawmakers, both war supporters and critics.
"We're glad the speaker will have a chance to hear firsthand from our troops on the ground as well as the Iraqi government," said Gordon Johndroe, a White House national security spokesman.
"When we're interacting with foreign governments, there is a need for the United States to provide a consistent message to those governments," said P.J. Crowley, a military and national security aide in the Clinton administration. "But in the context of Iraq, I see this trip as positive."
"A core element of our strategy is going to involve the performance of the Iraqi government. Congress has to be in a position of assessing the U.S. strategy and finding appropriate ways to support it, and also performing its oversight role," said Crowley, now with the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.
___
EDITOR'S NOTE — Tom Raum has covered Washington for The Associated Press since 1973, including five presidencies.
ThaaANK YOuuu Tom!
As is everything else she did in her first blundered hours.
Pretty much everything she does is.. "symbolic"... and pathetic.
1)No one needs stinkin' "Analyists" or "Experts" to judge
political actions.
2)Pelosi's trip wasn't symbolic, but pathetic and disgusting.
Well, it certainly wasn't substantive or to find the truth.
Chalk that headline up to Duh!
"notion"?!? It's not a "notion". It's sorta how this country was set up.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) smiles during a news conference on the legislation passed in the first 100 legislative hours of the 110th Congress in the Capitol in Washington January 18, 2007. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Idealized? I thought it was "Constitutionalized."
These people are really playing with fire.
Wonder whether they're planning to make a side trip to Okinawa to thank the troops there as well, since the Speaker and the Congressman are already in the neighborhood (according to Murtha, anyway)...
Non professional conduct: "When we're interacting with foreign governments, there is a need for the United States to provide a consistent message to those governments," said P.J. Crowley, a military and national security aide in the Clinton administration. "But in the context of Iraq, I see this trip as positive."
Anti-VICTORY position: "A core element of our strategy is going to involve the performance of the Iraqi government. Congress has to be in a position of assessing the U.S. strategy and finding appropriate ways to support it, and also performing its oversight role," said Crowley, now with the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.
the speaker will have a chance to hear firsthand from our troops on the ground
who I pray to God tell this hose bag that they don't appreciate her party's repeated attempts to undermine their efforts at every turn and that their constant Pres. bashing and withdrawl crying is giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
They could care less and you know it.
Symbolic. Yes, she thinks she's been ELECTED to the office of President.
LOL!
Must have called a "timeout" for her first 100 hours which hasn't accomplished anything.
Any pictures with our Troops?
It would not be totally accurate to say Nancy is full of herself -- there is also the Botox.
She's too arrogant and obnoxious to realize that she is making a classic error -- raising expectations too high. In reality she can't accomplish much with a closely divided Senate and a Republican President.
Someone should drop Nancy off in the worst part of Sadar City. There she could observe first hand why we are fighting.
With luck, it would be her last lesson... ever..about anything.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.