On Pelosi's Trip

I'm sure you've heard all the commentary (if not, just browse over at Real Clear Politics over the past few days). Here's my own take:

Since Speaker Pelosi was on vacation, she has a right to go anywhere she pleases. What she does not have the right, however, is to set US foreign policy, as this comment reads:

"...she told reporters that she had been authorized by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to tell Mr. Assad that Israel was ready to have peace talks with Syria. Mr. Olmert quickly repudiated that, saying that his country's position regarding Syria, which it considers part of the ''axis of evil,'' has not changed. Even worse, Mrs. Pelosi's characterized Mr. Assad's comments to her as new willingness for Syria to return to peace talks."

The Speaker has the idea that the US can have 2 points of views when it comes to dealing with terrorists and their supporters, namely Syria. We can't promote democracy abroad while supporting anti-democracy regimes, such as Assad's, who jail anyone who disagrees with them, deny even the basic rights of women, like Mrs. Pelosi, and has a racist bias toward Israel. Here is a comment from a democracy movement in the region, this from Bahrain:

"The only result that Pelosi achieved in visiting Damascus, and in sitting down with the Syrian president and shaking his hand, was to deliver a blow to the liberal opposition in Syria and frustrate reformists' hopes for change. By breaking through the ring of isolation [surrounding] Bashar Assad's regime, Syria advanced [several] steps towards repression and despotism, and the march of reform and democracy fell behind."

The hard and not so popular thing to do is what Bush did in Iraq, namely pushing for the end of dictatorial regimes, and using military force when necessary. Talk is cheap, but when its not backed up by a Big Stick, such as our 3 carriers in the Gulf during last weeks hostage crisis between Britain and Iran, then it is all meaningless.

Speaker Pelosi may have thought she could change the Middle East in a few days what more experienced envoys have taken years. Instead she should concentrate on her job in Congress and get a funding bill to our troops, and let the President and his cabinet carry out their Constitutional mandated duties.