Editorial ; Road to Damascus Not for Amateurs

Apr 07, 04:11 PM

Current Headlines: There seemed nothing really objectionable in what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. What was objectionable was her very presence there.

An earlier visit to Assad by a few House Republicans was also objectionable - even if the White House didn't get around to denouncing it until the speaker and her mostly Democratic group was on its way to Damascus.

Pelosi said she raised the issue of Syria's support of the Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist groups, and its facilitation of the entry into Iraq of foreign insurgents.

She also relayed a message from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that "Israel was ready to engage in peace talks," she said, and received Assad's assurance that he too was "ready to resume the peace process." (Olmert's office quickly issued a statement saying there was no new peace initiative.) Syria and Israel have had many back-channel talks in recent years (ending last summer) and don't need an amateur to carry messages.

Normally, there's no objection to members of Congress of either party meeting with officials of foreign governments. But Syria is not a normal government. In addition to exporting terror, its agents have tried to maintain control of Lebanon by assassinating opponents there.

A trip like Pelosi's effectively rewards an outlaw Syria for nothing. What the "negotiate no matter what" crowd forgets is all the previous failed attempts to get Syria to negotiate seriously. They make new attempts and comments like Pelosi's "the road to Damascus is a road to peace" nothing but rank foolishness. From 1993 to 2005, there have been many more than 20 high-level visits to Syria for nothing.

If Assad wants to play ball, there is still a U.S. embassy in Damascus (not to mention those back channels to Israel) and Ambassador Margaret Scobey could be there in two days. All Assad has to do is pick up the phone. But he would rather help an over-the- top partisan embarrass her country.

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