Nancy Pelosi's trip to Damascus received rave reviews from an asortment of terrorists, but was the subject of concern in Israel and among certain liberal media outlets here at home. Now Lebanon's Daily Star weighs in, calling her trip a "fool's errand."
The Daily Star is unhappy that Pelosi told Syria's dictator that "the road to solving Lebanon's problems passes through Damascus." The Lebanon newspaper reminds the dilettante diplomat that "the spirit and letter of successive United Nations Security Council resolutions, as well as Saudi and Egyptian efforts in recent weeks, have been destined to ensure precisely the opposite [of what Pelosi is encouraging]: that Syria end its meddling in Lebanese affairs."
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 7)
1. Does Damascus Nancy get her advice from Hanoi Jane?
Phil at 2:32PM on Apr 7th 2007
2. With the multitude of differences that already DIVIDE the people of the Middle East, our only true security for the United States is that we are NOT DIVIDED. Nancy Pelosi and her group went to the Syrians, with PUBLIC disregard from those who are charged with and who strongly advised it would NOT be in the best interests of our country. In the wake of that visit, the more moderate Middle Eastern countries, who have been on the front lines for their survival in that region are now even more vulnerable to Syria and Iran. She is personally responsible for the damage she has caused to that fragile region and to our own national security in this country. It reveals her arrogance and her ignorance, but not without casualties everywhere.
Marta at 2:50PM on Apr 7th 2007
3. the right-wing, in its infinite stupidity, is complaining about pelosi doing what our idiot administration should have been doing from the start of these mideast atrocities.... talking to the people involved.... instead of working to kill american children.....
jay pielle at 2:54PM on Apr 7th 2007
4. Nancy Pelosi's trip is only about Nancy Pelosi and nothing else. She is an arrogant, dangerous person in a dangerous place. The Middle East, in particular Syria and Iraq have centuries old rivalries. The Syrian Alawite regime regarded Iraq as its second most important regional enemy after Israel. Syria wants Lebanon and Israel to be a part of "Greater Syria", Scholars and Think Tanks continue to "think us to death" about this the most volatile area on earth. It's laughable to suggest that this mess can be resolved by Pelosi, who goes to that region in a very public defiance of those charged with our national policy. She has allowed the terrorists to use her for their propaganda and embarrassed our country. How do you "talk" to Islamic terrorists? These people have such millennial thoughts, they believe their own suicides, and using any kind of weapon and all degrees of destruction is their only hope under extreme Islam. They know no borders and their own destruction is exaulted. It does not bother them that they used our Speaker of the House to further their murderous agendas. It SHOULD bother Speaker Pelosi. She has not only jepordized the lives of all of the children in those countries, but our own American children as well.
Jean at 3:33PM on Apr 7th 2007
5. Nancy, what is it that you did not understand when President Bush said, " Don't Go !"
We have a Secretary of State and you do not have that position. People say that you are not too smart, and I believe that to be true.
Ruth Mallek at 3:46PM on Apr 7th 2007
6. Nancy Pelosi didn't have to say one word on this whole trip. Those people over there never heard one word she said the whole time. The Syrians and the extremist groups in that region already heard her over the airways and on the news programs "defy" the President of the United States and US State Department and tell the President to "calm down" and "there's a new Congress in town". That's good enough for them. They could care less about anything else. She played right into their agenda and are firing their weapons into the air to celebrate.
Marty G at 3:42PM on Apr 7th 2007
7.
Keep repeating the same old BS until it starts to stick. After all it sure worked with the fabricated stories used to justify this war. Anyone care to answer this question - did Pelosi do anything close to what Dennis Hastert did when he told Columbian leaders to "bypass the Executive branch and negotiate directly with Congress"? Anyone ?
Hey Paul - when are you going to follow up on that big "heckling" headline you wrote last week ?
Get ready now - here comes the big silence.
Must be nice to have your own blog, say anything you want, then not have the basic integrity to own up to your mistakes. Then again it sounds a whole lot like the present administration.
max at 4:03PM on Apr 7th 2007
8. I read that article in the Lebanon Star, the blogger got it the way it's actually printed. It's Lebanon's own newspaper for Gods' Sake. The guy in the post at #7 sounds like he has an axe to grind instead of learning the truth. That's pretty dangerous I would think.
Sabrina W at 4:18PM on Apr 7th 2007
9. WHY CAN'T ONE E-MAIL TO MS "P" , IT SEEMS THAT ONLY ONE FROM CALIFORNIA CAN SEND HER ANYTHING GOOD OR BAD.
R O STONECIPHER at 4:21PM on Apr 7th 2007
10.
Let's see - now we are told to believe the foreign press when it agrees with what the administration is trying to sell. The Lebanon Times ? OK. Otherwise it's OK to treat the foreign press like the New York Times or the Washington Post - God knows what rags those are. Are you implying Hastert didn't say what he did in Columbia ? It's a matter of public record. Sabrina, if this country really cared about the truth we would not be in Iraq today. And that is dangerous.
Yet somehow that particular truth escapes you.
max at 5:06PM on Apr 7th 2007
11. She looks great in that 'semi" burkah.
John at 10:24PM on Apr 7th 2007
12. I still don't get it what was Nancy Pelosi's purpose for the trip. Could it be "Let's all get along", and please kill another 3,000 innocent people, because the speaker of the House rules the show. Horrible. What a disgrace.
Jeanette at 5:31PM on Apr 7th 2007
13. You are right Nancy was wrong to interact with terrorist. We as a country are wrong because we also need to stop talking to North Korea, China and all countries where there are terrorrist.
Ralph Sparks at 5:39PM on Apr 7th 2007
14. She did the right thing. U.S. isloates too much, and Syria is the big power in the region, deserves to be respected. You have a choice to befriend them or not befriend them.
We judge too much.
STEPHEN CROSSON at 5:51PM on Apr 7th 2007
15. Faced with an administration apparently dedicated to marginalizing any Democrat - and especially one who holds high elective office - Pelosi has only a few ethical ways to play hardball. Cutting funds off, leaving our troops abroad without food, ammo or a ticket home would be one. Is that what you critics prefer? Otherwise, the administration can face the bad news they got last November, and try to adapt THEIR FAILED FOREIGN POLICY to include the Speaker. Bush and Cheney don't want to admit their failure, but the voters spoke - and rejected their ineptitude, incompetence, illegality, and untruths. I would have included lies in the list, but it appears that Bush and Cheney are so incompetent they cannot even recognize truth staring them in the face, therefore it would not be fair to blame them for lying. Compared to this pair of bums, Pelosi is a breath of fresh air, wven if I am a Republican and proud of it.
Charles Scouten at 5:56PM on Apr 7th 2007