Posted on 12/21/2006 7:22:00 AM PST by meg88
Senator John F. Kerry said Wednesday that President Bashar Assad of Syria expressed a willingness to work with the United States to bring stability to Iraq, and said Assad personally offered assistance that Kerry plans to convey to the Bush administration.
Kerry -- who visited Syria along with Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, despite the administration's opposition to the trip -- said the meeting with Assad reinforced the need to follow the Iraq Study Group's recommendation that the US government directly engage Syria and Iran to find a way forward in Iraq.
"He offered some very direct and concrete ways in which they could be helpful in Iraq," Kerry said in an interview conducted by telephone from Damascus. "I came away with a distinct feeling that there are opportunities here. There are fronts in which we can work together if people are inclined to."
The Massachusetts Democrat said he would not publicly discuss the substance of his talks with Assad until he has fully briefed State Department officials about his visit.
But Kerry reiterated his position that President Bush is wrong to rule out direct talks with Syria and Iran. He added that he is interested in visiting Iran as well at an "appropriate time" that's well-removed from the country's recent conference for Holocaust deniers, which Kerry labeled "absurd and insulting."
State Department officials sought to dissuade Kerry, Dodd, and Nelson from going to Syria, though they helped set up logistics of the visits when the lawmakers insisted on making their trips.
Last week, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow blasted the visits as "not appropriate," saying that such meetings hand the Syrian government "a PR victory" by allowing officials to showcase what they portray as improved relations with the West.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Kerry is digging a deep hole for himself. He should be shunned.
Yes, and I have a cat who wants to clean the inside of the bird's cage. But John Effin' Kerry doesn't recognize the danger inherent in such an agreement. Dumb ****.
Throw the Bastard's in jail!
What more proof does this administration need!
Senator John F. Kerry said Wednesday that President Bashar Assad of Syria expressed a willingness to work with the United States to bring stability to Iraq, and said Assad personally offered assistance that Kerry plans to convey to the Bush administration.
What did this moron expect Assad to say.
Oh... you mean assist US!
...
Why would he do that, exactly? What's in it for him?
so when kerry carries the vietcong demands to Bush will Bush have the cojones to tell kerry to pizzoff?
And what does the terrorist dictator want in return? Lebanon? Golan Heights? How about both? Mr. Kerry you are not only a traitor but you are stupid beyond belief.
When's the Glob article about SENATOR Kerry undermining the powers of the Executive Branch gonna be printed?
As TaRAYza says: Have another raisin!
A Dangerous Dilettante Dabbles in Defeat with our enemies.
Didn't Assad basically trash Nelson's version of their meeting?
No this is good. What the US is probably doing is pursuing a strategy of dividing the ME along ideological lines.
What looks to be happening is probably going to be the absolutely best outcome for the USA in this titanic struggle. What if Baghdad was partitioned completely like Berlin? Just put in short term martial law and build the wall separating Shiites and Sunnis. Fast forward 5 years, 10 years. We are still working like mad to bring up the western side of Baghdad and western Iraq. The Shiites and their dirty faced Mullahs run the east. You'll no doubt see razor wire and people trying to get out of the eastern district (just like in Berlin) to make a break for FREEDOM. That's a decent calculus for our side to explore IMHO.
I love how these Senators think that they not only can order our POTUS around...but can go to a foreign country, under tyrannical rule, and tell THEM how to run their country.
ROFLMAO...I would love to have seen Assad's face when carry pointed that bony finger at him and told him he better shape up!!! (He never did such a thing,....they LIE when they say they did that...they are too wimpy and on Assad's side)
That's been my idea all along, Baghdad just like Berlin in 1946.
Where have I heard this line before
Oh yea .. now I remember
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