Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Intended or Unintended Consequences of Pelosi's Visit?

The ripples in the water still continue after Nancy Pelosi's disasterous trip to Syria to play footsie with al-Assad.

After Israel had to issue "clarification" because Pelosi got the message wrong, they also issued a statement saying:

According to sources at the Prime Minister's Office, "Pelosi took part of the things that were said in the meeting, and used what suited her."


Then of course, al-Assad used her and blew her off, (for a soccer game) we now see there has been the ripple effect ever since and that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad has stepped up his support for terror since he received a friendly visit from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in early April. Human rights advocates in Syria have gone into hiding. (Via Real Clear Politics)

"Many Syrian... pro-democracy activists have privately expressed dismay at Ms. Pelosi's message of friendship to the government of Syrian President Bashar al Assad," reported the New York Observer. "They say that Ms. Pelosi's visit, no matter how well intentioned, has effectively pulled the rug out from under them."

Ms. Pelosi's embrace of the Syrian dictator "made the regime feel that Americans were divided on how to deal with Syria," said a human rights advocate interviewed by reporter Katherine Zoepf. "This sends a message to the regime that the pressure is off, that it can do what it likes."

Shortly after Ms. Pelosi left Damascus, Syria's best known human rights lawyer, Anwar al-Bunni, was arrested on a trumped up charge. He reportedly has been tortured.

Seventy percent of insurgents fighting in Iraq come from (Persian) Gulf countries via Syria, where they are provided with forged passports, a senior intelligence officer in Iraq's Interior ministry said in an interview with a Kuwait newspaper May 22.


Not content to cause as much division and chaos in America as possible, Pelosi has now decided to do the same thing abroad and the ramimifications of her actions are still being felt today.


Upon her return from Syria, Ms. Pelosi expressed a desire to meet with Mr. Assad's senior partner in the axis of evil, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"Iran is forging ties with al Qaida elements to plan a summer offensive "intended to tip a wavering U.S. Congress into voting for a full military withdrawal," reported the British newspaper The Guardian.

"They (Iran) are behind a lot of high profile attacks meant to undermine U.S. will and British will," The Guardian quoted a "senior U.S. official" in Baghdad as saying. "The attacks are directed by the Revolutionary Guard, who are connected right to the top."

The heavy involvement of Iran and Syria in Iraq makes it unlikely the conflict there is primarily a civil war. The migration of jihadists from Iraq to Lebanon via Syria makes it unlikely the conflict can be restricted to Iraq. But Ms. Pelosi doesn't let facts affect her world view.


[...]

After three U.S. soldiers were taken prisoner by al Qaida May 12, the Washington Post conducted a telephone interview with reputed al Qaida member Mohamed al-Janabi.

"I can assure you that we will start pressuring Bush in a new way at the same time he is facing pressures from the Democrats," Mr. al-Janabi told the Post.

Democrats such as Ms. Pelosi are not for terrorism and mass murder. But they do have a soft spot for terrorists and mass murderers. Mr. Assad and Mr. Ahmadinejad hate President Bush. So does Nancy Pelosi. So she assumes common ground can be found.


Good point and tells us all we need to know about Nancy Pelosi, Baghdad Reid and crew, which is why I have no doubt that in 2008, this not only will be a factor but may very well be one of the "deciding" factors in a conservative, Republican candidate walking away with the Presidency once again.

Corruption was the number one reason given at the exit polls in the 2006 elections, but when it comes to a general presidential election, the American people will pick National Security as a priority, which means Pelosi may have, with a little help from Edwards (his protests on Memorial Day) and Baghdad Reid (The war is lost comment), handed 2008 to the Republicans....time will tell, but we may owe them a big thank you.

"One Damascus-based researcher explained that in March, a group of Democratic operatives asked for a briefing in preparation for (Ms.) Pelosi's Syria trip," wrote Lee Smith, a Beirut-based researcher for the Hudson Institute. "'I explained they were walking into a minefield,' he told me. 'The regime is causing trouble throughout the region, and then there are plenty of human rights issues with their own imprisoned dissidents. And all they said was Yeah, yeah yeah.' In other words, don't bug us with the details, we're all about Bush."

But Mr. Assad and Mr. Ahmadinejad hate President Bush not because he's a Republican, but because he's an American, a distinction Ms. Pelosi seems unable to draw.


The damage that Nancy Pelosi has caused with her supposedly innocent little trip to Syria is not over and I personally believe we will be seeing these ripple effects for a long time to come.

It is something the American people will remember and blogs such as mine, will make sure that those with limited memories are reminded until Nancy Pelosi is back baking cookies where she so obviously belongs.

You can be a strong woman and be in politics without betraying your country and helping to destroy other countries.... another lesson Nancy Pelosi will never seem to be able to learn.

I will leave you with a question here: Were these intended or unintended consequnces?

If your answer is unintended, then that leads to a final question: with all the warnings she was given about her trip to Syria beforehand, is the "ignorance" she showed a justifiable excuse for the damage she has caused and is still causing?

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