Pelosi Defies Bush, Meets Syrian Leader

(AP)  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged the White House on Mideast policy, meeting with Syria's leader Wednesday and insisting "the road to Damascus is a road to peace." The Bush administration criticized the visit, saying she was following a road lined with victims of terror.

Vice President Dick Cheney said Pelosi was rewarding a "bad actor" in the Mideast. The tough White House response highlighted the clash between the administration and congressional Democrats, who have stepped up their push for change in U.S. policy in the Mideast and the Iraq war.

Washington accuses Syria of supporting terror for its backing of the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. It also says Syria is fueling Iraq's violence by allowing Sunni insurgents to operate from its territory and is destabilizing the Lebanese government.

The Bush administration has rejected direct talks with Damascus until its changes its ways. But Democrats — and some Republicans — say the refusal of dialogue has closed doors to possible progress in resolving Mideast crises.

Pelosi and a delegation of five congressional Democrats and Ohio Republican Dave Hobson met for three hours with Assad, including a lunch with him in Damascus' historic Old City.

The meeting brought no immediate change in Syria's stances. Afterward, Pelosi said that despite differences over whether to talk with Syria, "there is absolutely no division between this delegation and the president of the United States on the issues of concern."

She said she expressed to Assad "our concern about Syria's connections to Hezbollah and Hamas" and militant fighters slipping across the Syrian border into Iraq.

Pelosi said she brought a message to Assad from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that Israel was ready for peace talks with Syria. Assad gave assurances that "he's ready to engage in negotiations for peace with Israel," Pelosi said.

The Israeli government later underlined that its stance that it is "seeking peace with Syria, but that this would only be possible if Syria abandoned terror and stopped providing assistance to terror groups."

Assad has repeatedly said over the past year that Damascus is willing to negotiate with Israel, insisting the talks must lead to the return of the Golan Heights, seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War.

Despite the lack of breakthroughs, the high-profile meeting put new pressure on the White House. Rep. Tom Lantos, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who was in Pelosi's delegation, said the meeting "reinforced very strongly" the potential benefits of talking to Syria.

"We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace," Pelosi told reporters.

That brought a sharp attack from Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for President Bush's National Security Council.

"Unfortunately that road is lined with the victims of Hamas and Hezbollah, the victims of terrorists who cross from Syria into Iraq," he said. "It's unfortunate that she took this unilateral trip which we only see as counterproductive."

Syria hosts the exiled leadership of Hamas, as well as other Palestinian radical groups, and is a major patron of Hezbollah. Syria insists that Hamas is a legitimate resistance movement working for Palestinian freedom and Hezbollah is a regular Lebanese political party.

In an interview with ABC News, Cheney said Assad has "been isolated and cut off because of his bad behavior and the unfortunate thing about the speaker's visit is it sort of breaks down that barrier."

"It means without him having done any of those things he should do in order to be acceptable, if you will, from an international standpoint, he gets a visit from a high ranking American anyway," Cheney said.

In response, Nadeam Elshami, Pelosi's spokesman, underlined that Pelosi pressed Assad on issues of concern.

"The administration has rejected the bipartisan recommendations of the Iraq Study Group to engage Syria and instead continues to engage in a war of words with Republicans and Democrats on this issue," he said from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, where the delegation met Wednesday evening with Saudi King Abullah.

Last year, the Iraq Study Group — chaired by former Republican secretary of state James Baker II and former House Democrat Lee H. Hamilton — recommended Washington open talks with Iran and Syria to try to resolve the war in Iraq and other regional crises.

Bush rejected the recommendations. But in February, the U.S. joined a gathering of regional diplomats in Baghdad that included Iran and Syria for talks on Iraq.

Since 2005, Washington has succeeded in largely isolating Damascus, with its European and Arab allies shunning Assad. The last high-ranking U.S. official to visit Syria was then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in January 2005.

But that isolation has weakened in recent months, with some European officials and a number of American lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — visiting Damascus.

"These people in the United States who are opposing dialogue I tell them one thing: Dialogue is ... the only method to close the gap existing between two countries," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told reporters after Wednesday's Assad-Pelosi meeting.

[bourbon83]

[Good for them. But did YOU serve? What color was your uniformm?]

Pink with white polka dots. ha ha ha ... what was yours? Yellow? Do you want my American Legion card too?

[down-ndirty]

"OOohhh your digging deep now. You savage...Give me a break. My whole family has served dillrod. From eating maggots out of thier own wounds in the battle of the bulge,to nearly losing a leg in pearl harbor, vietnam and after. Now go back to playing checkers with Rosie." Posted by bourbon83

Good for them. But did YOU serve? What color was your uniformm?

[bourbon83]

[Who said terrorists were decent, kind people]

Jimi thinks we should invite them over for a slumber party to discuss how we blew up our own towers, and to get instructions on how to strap a bomb to your body.

[bourbon83]

[we remain vulnerable against the real threats. Iraq is just a stupid policy that gives us little return on 3000 dead US soldiers.]

We haven't been attacked since 9/11. Something must be going right. Like I stated Iraq is as good a place to start as any. I do agree, our focus should be on the whole middle east. By just focusing in one area, they're running in circles playing hide and seek.
As far as black/white. It is. We've tried the gray area for decades, until the terrorist became so emboldened as to attack us. Now it is a black or white issue. We need to kill them, before they kill us. You are not going to negotiate with that mentality!
As for all the libs claiming it's about oil. Big News Flash last night. Thier oil is going to China, and many other country's not alligned with us. Now I'm anxiously awaiting the liberal leap on how we're in conspiracy with China.

[bourbon83]

[like the Iranians see 90 miles off their own coast while three US carrier groups exercise]

I don't know about you superman, but when I stand on the beach, I can't see anything 90 miles out.. If they played nice, we wouldnt be there. dugh...

[bourbon83]

[Yeah, well I know guys in the force who arrested, worked with and counseled gang members and they have a different story to tell.]

I work everyday with a man that is in youth services as well. Different story than yours. I have no sympathy for lazy, "oh woe is me" attitudes. You can make your way in this world honestly without becoming a gang banger.

[If it makes you feel better to blanket-hate,]

I don't blanket hate, nor am I bigotted. I have friends of all differnt origins. I just don't tolerate people trying to kill me, or my countrymen. If the terrorist are such decent, kind people, as you portray, why didn't they come to us diplomatically? Instead of blowing up 3,000 innocent,AMERICANS???

[Oh dear another bleeding heart war hero.]

Don't confuse me with Kerry. I'm certainly no bleeding heart. I'm am a realist!!! Terrorist want to kill you, me, even rosie.. and that make me angry.

[30,000 troops in Mexico like we got on the Iranian borders in Iraq and Afghanistan? If that was happening to America, we'd be strapping explosives on our bodies too]

We have 600,000 illegal mexicans here. I don't see one American strapping explosives to themselves and blowing up the local taco wagon. We haven't harmed them. Until they've harmed us. What is so difficult about that? Poor nice oppressed people just don't do the things they're doing. Cutting Heads Off!!!!

[rheola-2009]

Bourbon83

Oh dear another bleeding heart war hero.

[rheola-2009]

Irregardless of the political leanings of the people involved, the one clear fact with the approach of Nancy Pelosi, is that of diplomact, not the bullying attitude we have become accustomed to, and which to date just has not worked.

Surely after over 3000 U.S. soldiers dead and so many more maimed, is it not time to take a more realistic approach with those who if pushed , could become an enemy, at the cost of thousands more young lives.

Just imagine, what the result may have been if the Brits had attempted to Bully Iran into submission over their recent problem.

It is well beyond the time that the U.S. should be realistically looking for a diplomatic end to it's invovement in Iraq.
I realize this would leave a possible civil war situation there, however that is a problem that would also have to be included in any attempt to peacefully overcoming this terrible carnage that is in a large part of America's making.

Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if we could all live in peace, without excess greed and meglomaniacal lust for power.

[bourbon83]

[And here's another news flash --- remember W's dad, King George I? He promised to support the Kurds after the first Gulf War if they rose against Saddam. They did, and he left them (literally) to die.]

You mean those nice people actually killed someone over there? Is that what you're admitting? leaving the nice ones there to die, is pretty much what you dems are wanting to do. If we pull out now, do you think they'll just group together and play twister?

[bourbon83]

[Your kind, bigots and warmongers that you are, are a grave danger to humanity. I hope the species survives you and yours long enough to breed you out.]

Wow you sound like hitler there! Just too apethetic to speed it up. You'd rather set back and hope a disease comes along and wipes us righties out, so you won't have to do anything other than play arm chair quarter back.

[No, in war politicians should take the advice of those on the ground who know what is going on, unlike you. You have clearly (like your fellow NeoCons) never served.]

OOohhh your digging deep now. You savage...Give me a break. My whole family has served dillrod. From eating maggots out of thier own wounds in the battle of the bulge,to nearly losing a leg in pearl harbor, vietnam and after. Now go back to playing checkers with Rosie.