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Pelosi in Syria: Peacemaker or Bungler?
by
findingDulcinea Staff
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi carries a message from Israel to Syria, prompting critics to accuse her of undermining U.S. foreign policy.
30 Second Summary
On the second stage of her Middle East tour, after visiting Israel, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Pelosi said that she carried word from Israel that Prime Minister Olmert sought to resume peace talks with Syria. She reported that Assad responded positively to that news.
Pelosi's visit has proved controversial. Syria is on the State Department list of terrorist sponsors, and Pelosi is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Syria since the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Critics argue that Pelosi’s actions weaken U.S. foreign policy. President Bush said meeting with Assad sends “mixed signals” to a state sponsor of terror.
Relations between the United States and Syria deteriorated after the February 2005 assassination of ex-Lebanese president Rafik Hariri. The international community suspects that Syria was involved in his killing. U.S. officials also believe that militants are crossing the Syrian border into Iraq.
However, the Pelosi delegation cites the 2006 bipartisan Iraq Study Group as giving mandate for talks with Syria.
Pelosi said that she carried word from Israel that Prime Minister Olmert sought to resume peace talks with Syria. She reported that Assad responded positively to that news.
Pelosi's visit has proved controversial. Syria is on the State Department list of terrorist sponsors, and Pelosi is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Syria since the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Critics argue that Pelosi’s actions weaken U.S. foreign policy. President Bush said meeting with Assad sends “mixed signals” to a state sponsor of terror.
Relations between the United States and Syria deteriorated after the February 2005 assassination of ex-Lebanese president Rafik Hariri. The international community suspects that Syria was involved in his killing. U.S. officials also believe that militants are crossing the Syrian border into Iraq.
However, the Pelosi delegation cites the 2006 bipartisan Iraq Study Group as giving mandate for talks with Syria.
Headline
“We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace,” Pelosi said following her talks with Syrian President Assad.
Source: CNN
In peace talks between Syria and Israel, the main points under discussion would be Israel’s withdrawal from the Golan Heights––seized from Syria in 1967––and Damascus’s ending its support for Hezbollah and militant Palestinian groups.
Source: The BBC
Reactions
“Syria uses these opportunities … to say that they aren’t isolated, that they don’t need to change their behavior, and it alleviates the pressure that we are trying to put on them to change their behavior," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, April 2, 2007.
Source: The White House
On April 3, 2007 President Bush said in a press conference that “going to Syria sends mixed signals … There have been a lot of people who have gone to see President Assad––some Americans, but a lot of European leaders and high-ranking officials. And yet we haven’t seen action.”
Source: The White House
“The visit of Mrs. Pelosi and the accompanying delegation to Syria conveys a clear message that dialog and peace are common language among nations,” President al–Assad said, according to the Syrian–Arab News Agency (SANA).
Source: The Syrian–Arab News Agency
“Bad behavior” is the phrase Dick Cheney pinned on Pelosi’s trip to Syria. On Rush Limbaugh's April 6, 2007 radio show, Cheney objected to her commandeering a presidential role by conducting foreign policy. He also cast doubt on the accuracy of her representation of Israel’s position on Syria.
Source: CNN
The house speaker’s blog responded to claims that Pelosi misrepresented Israel’s stance on her trip to Syria. The message relayed, says the Gavel, “was that, in order for Israel to engage in talks with Syria, the Syrian government must eliminate its links with extremist elements.”
Source: The Gavel: Speaker's Blog
Background
Pelosi’s spokesman issued a press release on March 30, 2007 about the bipartisan delegation to the Middle East: “Speaker Pelosi intends to discuss a wide range of security issues affecting the United States and the Middle East with representatives of governments in the region, including Syria.”
Source: The Speaker of the House
“Since 1979, Syria has appeared regularly on a list of countries––currently seven––that the U.S. State Department identifies as sponsors of international terrorism. … Syria has not been implicated directly in an act of terrorism since 1986,” says the State Department summary of its position published in April 2006.
Source: Congressional Report on Syria
The United States focused international suspicion on Syria after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri on February 14, 2004. Hariri was a staunch opponent of Syrian involvement in Lebanese politics. PBS details the ensuing story of deteriorating diplomatic relations.
Source: PBS
Opinion (con)
A New York Sun op-ed says that Pelosi’s visit “raises the question of whether the Democrats are prepared to seek a separate peace,” an allusion to the divided negotiations the WWII Allies sought to avoid in their pursuit of unconditional German surrender. The Sun writer argues that Pelosi is weakening America’s position in the Middle East just when “Iran must be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons.”
Source: The New York Sun
“What was communicated to the U.S. House Speaker does not contain any change in the policies of Israel,” said a statement from Israel's parliament, known as the Knesset, shortly after Pelosi met with Assad. According to this Washington Post article, Assad has duped Pelosi into advertising a non-existent moderation in Syrian politics: “Ms. Pelosi’s attempt to establish a shadow presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish.”
Source: The Washington Post
Opinion (pro)
David Ignatius of the Washington Post endorses the findings of the Baker–Hamilton Iraq Study Group, seeing little real divergence between Democrats and Republicans on this issue: “Bush administration officials have sat around a table in Baghdad with Syrians and Iranians … Nancy Pelosi is visiting Damascus. We’re all Baker–Hamiltonians now.”
Source: The Washington Post
“Bush v. the Constitution … Again” is the banner for John Nichols's piece on Pelosi’s Middle East tour in the Nation. “The Constitution makes clear,” writes Nichols, “that the Congress has broad authority to actively participate in foreign and military affairs.”
Source: The Nation
Reference Material
The bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended the United States “engage Syria, find common ground and urge the country to control its border with Iraq to stem the flow of funding, insurgents and terrorists into and out of Iraq.” The Washington Post details the report’s findings and the subsequent reaction.
Source: The Washington Post
Key Players
On January 4, 2007 Nancy Pelosi became the first woman speaker of the United States House of Representatives. An official biography is available on the House Web site.
Source: The House of Representatives
President Assad came to power in 2000 on a tide of reforms that has since ebbed. Of late, Assad has made it clear that he is more interested in economic than political restructuring, as detailed on the BBC biography.
Source: The BBC
Congressman David Hobson was the sole representative of his party on Pelosi’s bipartisan delegation to Syria. Previously, he was the sole Republican on a trip to Iraq, and this Washington Post article considers his position as “token Republican.”
Source: Rep. David Hobson (R–OH)
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