Thursday, April 05, 2007

Speaker Pelosi in Syria: The Attempted Seduction of Assad

While President Bush showed his normal peevishness toward those who disagree with his “head in the sand” foreign policy, Nancy Pelosi was demonstrating real leadership in opening a dialogue with the Syrian dictator. Despite the Washington Post’s editorial criticism of Pelosi, the fact remains her trip to Syria can only have positive effects. Anyway, no one complained when a Republican congressional delegation visited Syria - meeting with most of the same Syrian bureaucrats as Pelosi’s group did - yet the Speaker’s visit has caused an uproar among the Bushies and the chattering classes. It is clear from the President’s hysterical reaction to the Pelosi trip that he still doesn’t understand that elections have consequences. Those consequences are not limited to domestic policy. At present there is no consensus foreign policy. Congress and the President are at odds over when and where the use of force and diplomacy are appropriate. Simultaneously, former Secretary of State James Baker has reiterated he belief that Bush should adopt the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. That includes TALKING TO ASSAD! Oh well, “W” has his policy and he’s stickin’ to it ...

Meanwhile, the underestimation of Nancy Pelosi continues. The video of the Speaker with the Dictator was telling. He was clearly smitten and she was clearly in control of the situation. Ms. Pelosi uses both her brain and her considerable feminine charm to leave her adversaries - whether they are Republican House leaders like Boehner and Blunt or the tyrannical ruler Assad - in a state of pleasant confusion. Pelosi claims that she urged Assad to engage in serious peace negotiations with Israel, and that Assad agreed that he would. The cynic in me thinks that this was just a great photo opportunity for Assad and that he has no intention of changing his behavior. On the other hand, I’m not so sure. Like his father before him, Assad is shrewd and Pelosi’s boldness and her open lady-like manner may affect him more positively than being diplomatically ignored. The Neocon’s theory, that the diplomatic cold shoulder serves to motivate desired behavior in “bad actors,” has been proven ineffective everywhere. Grandma’s feminine wisdom was right: “YOU CATCH MORE FLIES WITH HONEY, THAN WITH VINEGAR.”

Remembering that Diplomacy is “the patriotic act of lying for one’s country” (Ambrose Bierce), I remain

Savant