BBC: Bush rival breaks Syria boycott ~ Pelosi visits Syria....

BBC ^ | Tuesday, 3 April 2007, 15:26 GMT 16:26 UK | BBC Staff

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Bush rival breaks Syria boycott

Ms Pelosi has already visited Israel, the West Bank and Lebanon

US House speaker Nancy Pelosi has arrived in the Syrian capital for a visit which the White House has criticised as undermining US policy.

She was received in Damascus by Foreign Minister Walid Muallim and is expected to meet President Bashar al-Assad.

The top Democrat brushed off criticism, saying dialogue with Syria was key to solving the Iraq and Lebanon crises.

The Republican Bush administration has boycotted Syria since the 2005 murder of Lebanon's former PM Rafik Hariri.

President Bush said Ms Pelosi's trip to Syria sent "mixed signals" that undermine US-led efforts to isolate the Syrian president.

"Photo opportunities and/or meetings with President Assad lead the Assad government to believe they're part of the mainstream of the international community, when, in fact, they're a state sponsor of terror," Mr Bush said.

'Brave lady'

Ms Pelosi is reported to be the highest-ranking US politician to visit Syria since bilateral relations deteriorated in 2003, when the US invaded neighbouring Iraq.

Syrian state media have hailed the visit as "positive", with the Syria Times describing Ms Pelosi as a "brave lady".

"American legislators, Democrats as well as Republicans, are aware that US policy in the region, especially the war in Iraq and its ties with Syria, is a fiasco that must be repaired," said Tishrin newspaper.

"(Syria) is ready for serious and sincere dialogue with the US officials," it added, saying it saw "great hopes of a rebalancing of US policy in the region".

A UN investigation has implicated Syrian officials in the killing of Mr Hariri, despite a strong denial from Damascus.

Ms Pelosi has already held talks in Israel, and correspondents say she is expected to transmit Israel's views on the long-stalled Syria-Israel peace track.

Syria demands the return of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel in 1967.

[Kakaze]

A stupid, stupid woman.

Scrub those hands all you want Nancy it wont come off.....it's blood, the BLOOD of United States Soldiers and its indelible.

[rhombus]

Maybe we will get lucky and Assad will keep her as one of his wives.

I had no idea Assad was blind. ;-)

[Fred]

Syrian quote should read:

“Syria is ready for Pelosi to see that they are given all the oil fields in Iraq and Iraq becomes part of Syria”

Pelosi is encouraged by this comment, saying, “we can achieve peace in the Middle East if we support Syria in this effort”.

[jeffers]

Stone her.

She’s a traitor.

[jwparkerjr]

I agree, such a statement should be forthcoming. However, it’s going to be much harder to convince anyone that she does not travel with the approval of the administration when they see the aircraft she is using for her junket. Just how ‘private citizen’ can you be and get an aircraft just like the one the President uses?

Words cannot express the disgust and frustration I feel at knowing that the Speaker of the House is going over there spouting BS about an alternative foreign policy. It’s got to be a new low in politics.

[jwparkerjr]

re: we can achieve peace in the Middle East if ...

Achieving peace in the Middle East has never been the problem. It’ peace at what price. If you’re willing to prove to the terrorists that their tactics can work then you’ve gained nothing, least of all peace. How long before they come up with something else they think their devil-god wants them to accomplish?

[Fred]

IT IS A JOKE!!!! WORK WITH ME ON THIS!!!

[takenoprisoner]

I guess the power to make treaties and establish foreign policy has been delegated to the speaker of the house. Is this constitutional since my understanding is that the President with consent of the senate (not the house) has these powers?

Perhaps Speaker Pelosi has over stepped her legal authority in defiance of the law of the land and the POTUS?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

NY Sun Editorial ...posted on FR:

A Separate Peace?
New York Sun ^ | April 2, 2007 | Editor

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Lead sentence in NY Sun Editorial linked above:

Speaker Pelosi's visit to Syria, due to take place today, raises the question of whether the Democrats are prepared to seek a separate peace.

[jwparkerjr]

It started with then Vice President Al Gore when he admitted that he had broken the law but that there was no one to call him to account for this crime. It’s been downhill since and it’s a much longer hill than I had anticipated. Every time I think we can’t possible have any hill left to go down something or someone comes along to show me how wrong I am.

Pathetic is the only word I can come up with to describe the behavior of the Democrats and the MSM.

[jwparkerjr]

I picked up on the sarcasm but then got so wrapped up in my response that I failed to add the </sarcasm> tag.

Sorry.

[gura]

[HeartlandOfAmerica]

Do lefties not READ the US Constitution, or just not comprehend it??? (or care about it I suppose)

While our people are dying of bombs and bullets blessed by Syrian thugocracy, she's over their schmoozing!

The top Democrat brushed off criticism, saying dialogue with Syria was key to solving the Iraq and Lebanon crises

That's not her call to make. It's foreign policy and the Constitution says that's the President's call!

[matt1234]

Whore of Babylon.

1. Revelation 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

2. "It should be noted that when people talk about the "Seven Hills" of San Francisco, they're referring to the seven original hills: Telegraph Hill, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Rincon Hill, Mount Sutro, Twin Peaks and Mount Davidson." -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_San_Francisco,_California_Hills

[joe fonebone]

sorry, but the lefties are not at fault here.....they are just like the terrorists, nobody calls them to account for their actions, so they just get bolder...they need to be held accountable for their actions and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Until then, they are free to commit whatever acts of treason they please, and the current crop of republicans still lack a spine....

[RunningWolf]

The images shown of her visit on Matt Drudge give me the impression they are not taking her all that too seriously over there.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From:

"The Pelosi Effect" CARTOON featuring Nancy Pelosi and Syrian President Assad...

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