Posted on 03/30/2007 2:15:30 PM PDT by indianrightwinger
Pelosi Going to Syria Despite Objections Mar 30 04:10 PM US/Eastern By ANNE FLAHERTY Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Syria, a country President Bush has shunned as a sponsor of terrorism, despite being asked by the administration not to go.
"In our view, it is not the right time to have these sort of high- profile visitors to Syria," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Friday.
Pelosi arrived in Israel on Friday in what is her second fact-finding trip to the Middle East since taking over leadership in the House in January.
Her repeat trip, an indication she plans to play a role in foreign policy, is also a direct affront to the administration, which says such diplomatic overtures by lawmakers can do more harm than good.
Pelosi will not be the first member of Congress in recent months to travel to Syria, but as House speaker she is the most senior.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the speaker "should take a step back and think about the message that it sends."
"This is a county that is a state sponsor of terror, one that is trying to disrupt the Senora government in Lebanon and one that is allowing foreign fighters to flow into Iraq from its borders," Perino said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "probably really wants people to come, and have a photo opportunity, and have tea with him, and have discussions about where they're coming from. But we just think it's a really bad idea," Perino said.
Pelosi's office did not immediately return a call seeking comment on why she was not heeding administration warnings.
U.S. officials held their first direct, high-level contact with Syrian representatives in years when they met in Baghdad this month with officials from several Middle East countries to discuss Iraq.
McCormack said the State Department tried to discourage Pelosi and the others from visiting Syria but agreed to give their staff a pre-trip briefing. The U.S. Embassy in Damascus also is expected to assist the delegation.
Others traveling with Pelosi were Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Henry Waxman and Tom Lantos of California, Louise Slaughter of New York and Nick Rahall of West Virginia, and Ohio Republican David Hobson. Ellison is the first Muslim member of Congress.
The House has adjourned for a two-week spring break.
The group planned to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and to travel to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Ellison's spokesman, Rick Jauert.
The speaker is expected on Sunday to address the Israeli Knesset, her first address to a foreign government. She will become the highest- ranking American woman to speak before the Israeli parliament, according to her office.
She is expected to discuss "America's commitment to Israel and the challenges facing the two nations in the Middle East," according to a statement.
In late January, Pelosi and a close political ally, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., led a delegation of House members to Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and other countries.
The January trip to Baghdad came just days after the president asked Congress in his State of the Union address to give his revised war strategy a chance to work. Bush is sending 21,500 additional combat troops, plus thousands of other support troops, to Iraq in a bid to tamp down sectarian attacks and provide enough security to hasten reconstruction efforts.
Pelosi last week forced legislation through the House that would order all combat troops out of Iraq by September 2008, a measure that resembles legislation approved by the Democratic-run Senate.
___
Associated Press writers Frederic J. Frommer, Jennifer Loven and Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Oh, what right do any of us have to object?
Haven't you heard her say, "There's new sheriff in town"?
Queen Nancy has spoken.
And it would be so easy.
I think they are deliberately pushing Bush into a Constitutional confrontation.
I believe their behaviour will get more and more blatantly treasonous, daring him to do anything about it.
I think they are TRYING to get themselves charged with something, in order to start riots.
Will Ms. P be wearing a head scarf?
We should attack while she's there.
Maybe they'll take her hostage, if we're lucky.
She's taking a Muzzie with her! a.k.a. Keith Ellison
What? Is one going over there?
And, I would bet the farm Syria is where Iraq shipped the WMD's.
I'm saving my money for the over/under on how many days before they throw her back.
-PJ
Would it be cold of me to say I hope they keep her?
I agree with that post 100%. This morning, for instance, I read that students in some district in CA were walking out of classes to protest until a decision was made to make it a national or school holiday for Che Guevera. If those kids had an ounce of schooling in what Marxism did to people, this wouldn't happen.
She is taking the most liberal congressmen, plus one Republican. Names listed in above article.
LOL. It's our secret wish...
Definitely.
The Democrats are using Scott Ritter for fundraising now:
http://democrat.meetup.com/272/calendar/5620942/
I hate to even bring this up but is having the third person in the Presidential line of succession a good idea to have in Syria on the eve of war?
The left has taken control of the State Department, FBI, CIa and large sections of the military. Nobody is going to deny Pelosi a passport.
They are deliberately bullying and breaking laws and pushing for a confrontation. L:eaking info to the enemy in the most blatant way.
They WANT to get arrsted/charged.
Then riots will break out --- the moobats, and int he counter-riots the DC police will arrest all the counter-demonstrators, the DC legal system will jail them, and they will then get rid of a lot of the opposition.
Isn't that paranoid?
Why else would they so obviously break every law?
Nothng like this has ever happened in our history --- these junkets to the enemy, leaking secrets to terrorists.
Scott Ritter who was once convinced that Saddam's WMD program presented a grave threat to the United States and then went to work for Saddam or was at least bribed by him to take it all back? The child pedophile Ritter?
Wow. The Democrats really don't care who they befriend, do they? So much for the Republican culture of corruption.
Thank you thank you thank you Pelosi Galore.
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