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Speaker Nancy Pelosi with President Bush, VP Cheney at the 2007 State of the Union address (photo: White House)
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| By israelinsider staff and partners April 4, 2007 |
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For Republican US President George W. Bush, Syrian strongman Bashar Assad is a destabilizing Middle Eastern force, a major contributor to last summer's war between Israel and the Lebanese Hizbullah, and responsible for aiding and abetting many of the insurgents who have killed thousands of people in Iraq, among them US servicemen.
Along with Cuba and Libya, Syria is one of the states the Bush administration described as being "beyond the axis of evil."
For Democrat and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, however, Assad and Syria present a beckoning door, a platform upon which the newly-appointed third-most-powerful American politician can begin to lay her legacy.
On Wednesday, Pelosi sat down with Assad in Damascus, smiling for the cameras and nodding sagely in apparent agreement as her host earnestly directed a stream of conversation in her direction.
According to journalists at the press conference, Assad quickly drew Pelosi into discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict, and this became the issue that dominated their remarks.
The Syrian appeared pleased to have Bush's most powerful political foe at his side.
Pelosi said afterwards she had been pleased with the "assurances we received from the president" that he was ready to resume the Middle East peace [sic] process and to talk with the Israelis.
"I hope the road to Damascus can be the road to peace," she said.
Jerusalem had earlier asked Pelosi to convey to Assad that Israel is willing to resume negotiations with Syria.
"Likewise Damascus has now sent a message to Israel via Pelosi that Syria is willing to resume talks with Israel," reported CNN.
Pelosi asked Assad to help secure the release of three kidnapped Israeli soldiers, something he affably agreed to do, but only on condition Israel set free thousands of terrorists it is
holding in its jails.
Trying to justify her decision to lead a congressional delegation into enemy territory, Pelosi said doing so opened the doors of dialogue with the country's leadership, which the Bush administration had been keeping closed.
When asked about Pelosi's visit to Syria, President Bush told reporters, "A lot of people have gone to see President Assad ... and yet we haven't seen action. He hasn't responded," The Jerusalem Post reported.
Syria has praised Pelosi for defying the White House. The state-run Syria Times called her a "brave lady" and a veteran Middle East journalist reported afterwards that Syria was "feeling very satisfied that this visit has gone ahead over the heads of the US administration and even of the president himself."
Stan Goodenough of Jerusalem Newswire contributed to this article. |
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