It's not just the Bush White House that had problems with Nancy Pelosi's adventure in Syria:
HOUSE SPEAKER Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offered an excellentdemonstration yesterday of why members of Congress should not attemptto supplant the secretary of state when traveling abroad. After ameeting with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Ms. Pelosiannounced that she had delivered a message from Israeli Prime MinisterEhud Olmert that "Israel was ready to engage in peace talks" withSyria. What's more, she added, Mr. Assad was ready to "resume the peaceprocess" as well. Having announced this seeming diplomaticbreakthrough, Ms. Pelosi suggested that her Kissingerian shuttlediplomacy was just getting started. "We expressed our interest in usingour good offices in promoting peace between Israel and Syria," she said.
Onlyone problem: The Israeli prime minister entrusted Ms. Pelosi with nosuch message. "What was communicated to the U.S. House Speaker does notcontain any change in the policies of Israel," said a statement quicklyissued by the prime minister's office. In fact, Mr. Olmert told Ms.Pelosi that "a number of Senate and House members who recently visitedDamascus received the impression that despite the declarations ofBashar Assad, there is no change in the position of his countryregarding a possible peace process with Israel." In other words, Ms.Pelosi not only misrepresented Israel's position but was virtuallyalone in failing to discern that Mr. Assad's words were mere propaganda.
For anyone, including liberals, who didn't lose faith in Pelosi's leadership skills 'round about the time she was promoting Jack Murtha and Alcee Hastings as the new faces of the most ethical Congress evuh, read the whole thing. There, that should do the trick.
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