The Lebanon Daily Star has a blistering review of Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Syria:
We can thank the US speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for having informed Syrian President Bashar Assad, from Beirut, that “the road to solving Lebanon’s problems passes through Damascus.” Now, of course, all we need to do is remind Pelosi 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: that Syria end its meddling in Lebanese affairs.
Pelosi embarked on a fool’s errand to Damascus this week, and among the issues she said she would raise with Assad – when she wasn’t on the Lady Hester Stanhope tour in the capital of imprisoned dissidents Aref Dalila, Michel Kilo, and Anwar Bunni – is “the role of Syria in supporting Hamas and Hizbullah.” What the speaker doesn’t seem to have realized is that if Syria is made an obligatory passage in American efforts to address the Lebanese crisis, then Hizbullah will only gain. Once Assad is re-anointed gatekeeper in Lebanon, he will have no incentive to concede anything, least of all to dilettantes like Pelosi, on an organization that would be Syria’s enforcer in Beirut if it could re-impose its hegemony over its smaller neighbor.
Pelosi’s trip was deeply irresponsible, and quite possibly a violation of federal law. Speaker Pelosi is not authorized by the Constitution or federal law to act as an agent of United States foreign policy — and if the Democrats think that they can create their own foreign policy, the Constitution says otherwise. Only the Executive has the right to “receive Ambassadors” and by trying to suborn American foreign policy the Democrats are violating the sacred principle that America should speak with one voice abroad.
By visiting Syria, Speaker Pelosi has given an air of legitimacy to a state that is actively involved in the subjugation of Lebanese sovereignty, is actively aiding the ruthless terrorist group Hizb’Allah, and is an avowed enemy of the United States. The Syrian government was responsible for the assassination of Rafik Hariri, they are actively aiding Hizb’Allah, and they are actively helping spread terrorist from Beirut to Baghdad and all across the globe. Our demands must be non-negotiable: Syria must end their support of terrorism or pay the price.
It is clear that this foolhardy trip has earned Pelosi widespread criticism — as well it should. There’s a difference between a fact-finding mission and an attempt to create a shadow foreign policy. It is clear that the Democrats have every intention of taking illegal control of American foreign policy — something which the Constitution does not allow them to do.
It was bad enough that several Republican congressmen did the same — but there’s a big difference between a Congressional delegation and the Speaker of the House. By visiting Syria, Speaker Pelosi has undermined American foreign policy, given tacit diplomatic support to an enemy of both the United States and those in the Middle East seeking freedom from terrorism, and quite possibly violated federal law. Speaker Pelosi is not the nation’s chief diplomat, and if she thinks that the Democrats should be running foreign policy, they should concentrate on winning the next election rather than trying to undercut the rightful foreign policy establishment.
