If we can come to the conclusion that Syria Prime Minister Bashar Assad is, well, not exactly a nice guy, then we must once again question why Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi traveled to Syria to meet directly with Assad. Pelosi claimed at the time there is a need to speak to a nation’s foes, and I generally agree, however not when that meeting is used to bolster the reign of the leader of the one of the world’s top state sponsors of terrorism, and that appears to be the case.

Pictures of Mrs. Pelosi and Syrian President Bashar Assad — officially Syria’s most popular citizen — still turn up on the local news channels, especially during coverage of the dispute between President Bush and Congress over the Iraq war spending bill . . .
Mrs. Pelosi, 67, is praised as “a friend of Syria,” and that makes her more influential than Oprah Winfrey and more appealing than the old Hollywood movies shown on satellite television . . .

“She was enormously popular here, a hero,” said one such resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “This is the best thing that has happened here, if it proves [Mr. Assad] was right not to give concessions.”

Along with recent visits by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and officials from the European Union, the resident added, Mrs. Pelosi’s trip “bolsters the regime with the Syrian people, and it shows that isolating Syria won’t work.”

Fantabulous and good work Pelosi!

Syria continues to be the main highway into Iraq for Al Qaida in Iraq jihadists, continues to support both Hamas and Hezbollah and the Assad regime certainly appears to have fingerprints all over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rufik Hariri and has tried and successfully stalled the UN investigation into Hariri’s death. Yet there’s Miss Pelosik, sipping tea with Assad and boosting the standing of Assad within the Syrian populace.

One wonders if the Syrian people knew what she stood for and what parades she has been a special guest at if she would still be considered a hero. Strangely though, the idea of politics stops at this nation’s borders must be a Republican ideal since they won’t tell Syrians who Pelosi is yet Pelosi went on the trip in the first place to provide a “Democratic alternative foreign policy.”

And by the way, Pelosi is easily the bigger of the clueless hacks.