Betsy's Page
HOMEAdvance your career by earning a masters degree
online.
Betsy neither necessarily uses,
nor endorses,
the products advertised on this site.
Advance your career by earning a masters degree
online.
The truth about Avesil
Wikio
Get exclusive travel deals and book discount cheap flights
Comments from an AP history
and government teacher in Raleigh, NC.
e-mail betsynewmark AT gmail.com
Commissions earned from selling items through Amazon will go towards buying materials for my classes. Thank you.
Site Feed
The truth about Avesil
Wikio
Get exclusive travel deals and book discount cheap flights
Comments from an AP history
and government teacher in Raleigh, NC.
e-mail betsynewmark AT gmail.com
Commissions earned from selling items through Amazon will go towards buying materials for my classes. Thank you.
Site Feed
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Congressmen and women shouldn't conduct their own shuttle diplomacy
Even the Washington Post is critical of Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria. They note what they call her "pratfall in Damascus" wherein she announced that she had carried a message from Prime Minister Olmert of Israel that Israel was ready to start peace negotiations with Syria.
The only problem is that she botched the message and Olmert quickly came out and contradicted her.Only one problem: The Israeli prime minister entrusted Ms. Pelosi with no such message. "What was communicated to the U.S. House Speaker does not contain any change in the policies of Israel," said a statement quickly issued by the prime minister's office. In fact, Mr. Olmert told Ms. Pelosi that "a number of Senate and House members who recently visited Damascus received the impression that despite the declarations of Bashar Assad, there is no change in the position of his country regarding a possible peace process with Israel." In other words, Ms. Pelosi not only misrepresented Israel's position but was virtually alone in failing to discern that Mr. Assad's words were mere propaganda.Pelosi seems so caught up with the illusion perpetrated by the Iraq Study Group that Syria could be a willing participant in peaceful negotiations to end the violence in the Middle East that she seems to have forgotten what Syria really is - a dictatorship responsible for stirring up violence from Lebanon to Iraq."We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace," Ms. Pelosi grandly declared.Diplomacy is a tough job, Mrs. Pelosi. Perhaps, you would do better to leave it to those in charge of conducting foreign policy instead of free-lancing. All she has accomplished is heartening America's enemies that their strategy of dividing America politically has been a success.
Never mind that that statement is ludicrous: As any diplomat with knowledge of the region could have told Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Assad is a corrupt thug whose overriding priority at the moment is not peace with Israel but heading off U.N. charges that he orchestrated the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The really striking development here is the attempt by a Democratic congressional leader to substitute her own foreign policy for that of a sitting Republican president. Two weeks ago Ms. Pelosi rammed legislation through the House of Representatives that would strip Mr. Bush of his authority as commander in chief to manage troop movements in Iraq. Now she is attempting to introduce a new Middle East policy that directly conflicts with that of the president. We have found much to criticize in Mr. Bush's military strategy and regional diplomacy. But Ms. Pelosi's attempt to establish a shadow presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish.Labels: Nancy Pelosi
0 comments
Comments:
Even the Washington Post is critical of Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria. They note what they call her "pratfall in Damascus" wherein she announced that she had carried a message from Prime Minister Olmert of Israel that Israel was ready to start peace negotiations with Syria.
The only problem is that she botched the message and Olmert quickly came out and contradicted her.
0 comments
Even the Washington Post is critical of Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria. They note what they call her "pratfall in Damascus" wherein she announced that she had carried a message from Prime Minister Olmert of Israel that Israel was ready to start peace negotiations with Syria.
The only problem is that she botched the message and Olmert quickly came out and contradicted her.
Only one problem: The Israeli prime minister entrusted Ms. Pelosi with no such message. "What was communicated to the U.S. House Speaker does not contain any change in the policies of Israel," said a statement quickly issued by the prime minister's office. In fact, Mr. Olmert told Ms. Pelosi that "a number of Senate and House members who recently visited Damascus received the impression that despite the declarations of Bashar Assad, there is no change in the position of his country regarding a possible peace process with Israel." In other words, Ms. Pelosi not only misrepresented Israel's position but was virtually alone in failing to discern that Mr. Assad's words were mere propaganda.Pelosi seems so caught up with the illusion perpetrated by the Iraq Study Group that Syria could be a willing participant in peaceful negotiations to end the violence in the Middle East that she seems to have forgotten what Syria really is - a dictatorship responsible for stirring up violence from Lebanon to Iraq.
"We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace," Ms. Pelosi grandly declared.Diplomacy is a tough job, Mrs. Pelosi. Perhaps, you would do better to leave it to those in charge of conducting foreign policy instead of free-lancing. All she has accomplished is heartening America's enemies that their strategy of dividing America politically has been a success.
Never mind that that statement is ludicrous: As any diplomat with knowledge of the region could have told Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Assad is a corrupt thug whose overriding priority at the moment is not peace with Israel but heading off U.N. charges that he orchestrated the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The really striking development here is the attempt by a Democratic congressional leader to substitute her own foreign policy for that of a sitting Republican president. Two weeks ago Ms. Pelosi rammed legislation through the House of Representatives that would strip Mr. Bush of his authority as commander in chief to manage troop movements in Iraq. Now she is attempting to introduce a new Middle East policy that directly conflicts with that of the president. We have found much to criticize in Mr. Bush's military strategy and regional diplomacy. But Ms. Pelosi's attempt to establish a shadow presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish.
Labels: Nancy Pelosi
Comments:
Post a Comment
