Posted on 04/06/2007 7:38:04 AM PDT by SmithL
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is receiving a warm welcome from much of the regional press as she tours the Middle East -- both Arabic and English commentators are calling her visit a pleasantly diplomatic departure from the Bush administration's foreign policy.
On the San Francisco Democrat's second day in Saudi Arabia, she was still fielding questions about her controversial visit Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar Assad, which produced harsh criticism from the White House.
Many Middle East commentators saw the cross-party criticism as a debate not just about Syria but about the fundamental nature of President Bush's foreign policy for the region, and many viewed Pelosi's visit as signaling a welcome shift in approach.
"Bush thinks Pelosi's visit to Syria would make the Syrian president feel part of the international community again," wrote Masoud el-Henawi in Egypt's al-Ahram newspaper. "The question that gnaws at me now is: Is it better to isolate a country in Syria's weight or start a dialogue with it so that the reality behind its positions becomes known?
"I think dialogue and diplomacy are the best ways to deal with it, even if the American president would look with disgust at such an approach."
Jordan's Ad Dustur newspaper editorialized, "It must be stated that Pelosi's visit to Syria is a step in the right direction, given the fact that the way of the Democrats to the American presidency is wide open."
But the paper expressed some skepticism about Pelosi's visit, noting that her statement to Assad that Israel's prime minister was ready to hold peace talks provoked a prompt response from Israel that Syria must renounce terrorism first -- an example, it said, of Israel setting further conditions...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Cut & Run is a San Francisco value.
Diplomacy - Neocons saddened
So how was she... Bashar?
Is the whole world smokin’ crack? Or is it too much lead in the water?
Why is Pelosi hanging out with that "V for Vendetta" guy?
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If she likes it so much over there, let her stay and live under their laws.
peloopsi
§ 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments.
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply himself, or his agent, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.
18 U.S.C. § 953 (2004).
Arrest her as soon as she steps foot on US soil under the Logan Act. Congress isn’t in session so she has no immunity from arrest. Haul her in with the full prep walk in front of the media cameras and announce at the same time demand that the House being proceedings to expel the Pelosi for violating a law that has been on the books since 1799, and amended in 1994. Imagine the howls from the left. Talk about a media freak-out. And I’m sure as soon as she got out on bail she’d start with impeachment proceedings against the President. It would be the ultimate political death match. Unfortunately, Bush doesn’t have the pair to do this.
Not “all” the big media has agreed with this SF newspaper, the Washington Post called her little garden party in Syria ludicrous for one description. The Chronicle lives in awe of their plastic Pelosi and her millions made from wine and corruption. She broke the law and committed treason but they are delighted to see her in a lovely, pale green pant suit, smiling gaily at the Islamic cameras as she craps all over her Country. We sure do need a DemocRAT running the Country, let’s all make sure Hillary is elected and we can expect much more of this kind of “dip-lomatic” destruction.
I agree. If Pelosi isn’t prosecuted for this crime, then our laws are a joke.
Pelosi’s trip implements the harmful Baker/Hamilton Commission recommendation for talks without preconditions. Diplomacy toward a terrorist state cannot involve conflict resolution, or “just talk to them” methods, because an independent Syria must no longer submit to Western logics and definitions of meaningful interactions. This adversary, and those African/Oriental /Asian cultures we seek as allies, contend in worlds where assassination, terrorism and genocide dominate political agendas.
The State Department designates Syria a terrorist state. A UN war crimes tribunal currently investigates Assad’s link to assassination of Lebanon Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria provides safe havens and conduits for foreign fighters killing innocent civilians and our soldiers in Iraq. Sponsorship of Hammas and Hezbollah provides Syria tools to disrupt Lebanon’s struggle towards democracy, and to seek Israel’s extinction. For these and other behaviors Syria earns US containment through isolation. Policies effectively applied against Libya, which returns to the international community as it renounces terrorism and WMD’s.
Broadly representative government provides the antidote to infection by terrorist heresies, and brings final victory in the Global War on Terror. However, choosing representative government, over alliances with malevolent factions, requires extraordinary personal risks. Deliberations favoring such risks demand allies who consistently reject and isolate expressions of totalitarian force.
Polosi/Assad photo ops and sound bites damage our reliability by seeming to accommodate terrorism and criminality within the spectrum of international propriety. Governments must then reluctantly accommodate those elements within their cultures.
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