[mtbopfuyn]

I think we found a great deal of areas of mutual interest

I'll bet.

[Texas Eagle]

Is it true his first words to Assad were, "There's no place like home! There's no place like home!"?

[Sterrins]

I guess Kerry is reduced to pretending that he's President now.

[Tom Bombadil]

All we need now is another Jimmy Carter mucking around in foreign policy.......John Kerry should traipse off with Ramsey Clarke to some remote beach in Tahiti. They can enjoy their retirement together without further embarrassing themselves.

[Solamente]

He probably asked Assad to keep a lid on Iraq's WMDs stashed in Syria until after 2008.

[TADSLOS]

More recently, US President George W. Bush has warned Syria and Iran against "meddling" in the internal affairs of Iraq.

Should have sent the memo to JohnnyNam as well, not that he would have heeded it.

[ml1954]

Is this kind of unilateral interference in sensitive foreign policy issues by a Senator of the opposition party, not to mention the looser of a recent presidential election, normal?

This just doesn't seem right. Condi needs to take this guy to the woodshed when she gets in.

[SeaBiscuit]

Nothing new, the Fraud is still meeting with our enemies.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

Anyone want to bet that the traitor didn't meet with Al Qaeda, too?

[Joe 6-pack]

I'm surprised they didn't meet in Paris...'til now that has been Kerry's choice of venue for meeting with enemy leaders....

[Maceman]

God forbid this guy should stop farting around with all his meaningless self aggrandizing activities and actually show up to do the job he was hired to do by the voters of Massachusetts.

We need to start calling him Senator No-Show.

[Go Gordon]

"I can assure you that I leave here with a sense that we can improve our relationship. There are significant possibilities, particularly with the elections in Iraq and the elections in the West Bank," Kerry said. "This is the moment of opportunity for the Middle East, for the US and for the world. I hope that we would seize that opportunity..."

...and Bush doesn't F it up

[Go Gordon]

"Thank you very much. So do I. Thank you for this," Kerry said. He asked for the boy's address, and al-Nabulsi gave him his mobile number.

Yeah, 13 year old boys in Syria all have cell phones.

[tarheelswamprat]

Later, as Kerry was about to get into his car outside the Foreign Ministry building, 13-year-old Mustafa al-Nabulsi approached him with a drawing of the senator as a soldier in his Vietnam days. "You have made me much more important than I was, though. You made me a general," Kerry told the teen. "I wish you were the president," al-Nabulsi responded in English. "Thank you very much. So do I. Thank you for this," Kerry said. He asked for the boy's address, and al-Nabulsi gave him his mobile number.

This scene was a set-up; I'd bet any amount on it. Furthermore, the Bush administration continues to demonstrate a dangerous incompetence in media and PR matters by allowing these types of stunts by political opponents.

[sofaman]

Kerry said there were "still concerns" that need to be addressed. "But I came away confident that the president and foreign minister are interested in moving in the right direction, and I am hopeful they will," he said.

After all, Assad is such a trustworthy soul. The only thing that Assad and his ilk understand is a swift kick up the bracket.

[KJC1]

A picture of this meeting:

[Publius6961]

Are senators allowed to perform individual foreign policy? I thought their role was simply to advise and consent.

Otherwise, if memory serves me right, that's sedition at best, treason at worst.

What's the excuse for not burning this loser this time (Nixon was a wuss)?

[Poser]

I'll cut Kerry some slack. He lost. He conceeded. We already knew that the terrorists were afraid of Bush and would rather have had Kerry as US President.

From our point of view, what could be better than Assad telling Kerry he wished the Dems had won? It pretty much proves our point.

[Darkwolf377]

Were his first words in Syria "Did Jen-giss Kahhhn ever come through here?"

[niteowl77]

Another perfectly good photo-op ruined by forgetting to have Tom Harkin tag along.