U.S. to send envoys to Syria

latimes.com ^ | March 4, 2009 | Paul Richter

[Free ThinkerNY]

Reporting from Jerusalem -- Two U.S. officials are being dispatched to Syria for exploratory talks, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday, in a new signal of the Obama administration's determination to reach out to longtime adversaries.

Clinton, in Jerusalem for her first talks with Israeli officials, described the upcoming meetings with the Syrian government as "preliminary conversations" intended to examine whether Damascus is serious about a new relationship with the United States.

She told reporters in a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that though the outcome is uncertain, "it is a worthwhile effort to go and begin" the talks.

The U.S. officials are Jeffrey Feltman, acting U.S. secretary of State for the Middle East who previously served as the ambassador to Lebanon; and Daniel Shapiro, ranking official for the Middle East at the National Security Council, who was a Mideast advisor to the Obama presidential campaign.

The two men will leave this weekend for meetings expected to last a few days. They're not expected to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad, since the talks are preliminary.

President Obama, who campaigned on a promise of outreach to long-standing foes, also plans an overture to Iran, and Clinton has appointed a high-level envoy to advise her on U.S. policy toward Tehran.

[Free ThinkerNY]

[kabar]

If these envoys are Jewish-Americans, as it appears, these negotiations are going nowhere regardless of what they might have to say. The Syrians and the Arabs in general still believe that Jewish interests run US foreign policy and that we are in league with Israel against them.

[Tzimisce]

...oh this makes me feel better. *gag*

[tina07]

sleeping with the enemy, or more like buying them all...the ole Clinton policy