The White House is furious that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has traveled to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus. Assad is not the only Middle East leader Pelosi is speaking to. Omigod! Diplomacy!
Trust Pelosi to give as good as she gets; she has pointed to the hypocrisy of the administration, having said nothing about the “the recent visits by Republican members of Congress.” The U.S. also participated “in a regional security conference in Baghdad last month that also included representatives from Iran and Syria.”
But here’s the real difficulty, as the press sees it: “The United States has poor relations with Syria, accusing it of interfering in Iraq.” Come to think of it, Bush, like the snake he is, should be slithering on his belly to Bashar to thank him for serving as the US’s pressure relief valve vis-a -vis Iraq.
Although the cable cretins don’t bother to report about them, and the administration smears reporters who try —millions of Iraqis have been displaced and uprooted in the aftermath of our invasion. Syria has been incredibly generous to these poor refugees. Together, Jordan and Syria have taken in 1.6 million fleeing Iraqi refugees. “On 20 October, Ron Redmond, UNHCR chief spokesman, said some 40,000 Iraqis are now arriving in Syria each month.” Take into account that these figures date back to October 2006.
Pelosi ought to thank the Syrian president for extending to the Iraqi refugees the use of its public schools and the health care system, although they “have to travel out of the country every six months to renew their visas and cannot hold work permits, resulting in high unemployment.” [I’m sure they don’t risk popping back to Iraq when visa renewal falls due, despite McCain’s assurances.]
IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks) reports that “the majority of Iraqi refugees in Syria live in the suburbs of Damascus, in deteriorating socio-economic conditions.” That’s where Pelosi should be headed.
Update: Of course, American interests in the Middle East are not to be conflated with Israel’s. The two countries have completely different interests in the region (the one “lives” there, so to speak; the other often makes life impossible for those who live there). The fact that Bush should be speaking to Bashar doesn’t mean that Israel ought to be doing the same. Israel would be in better shape if it didn’t aim above all to please or emulate the US. Syria wants Israel to return territory acquired due to Syria’s aggression. Israel should reject this “option” if it cares to survive. However, time and again Israel has shown that it is no more than an American satellite.
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