Pelosi camp says she did bring message to Syria's President Assad from Israel
BBSNews 2007-04-06 -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel flatly contradicted US House speaker Nancy Pelosi on her claim of taking an Israeli message to Syria's President Assad yet she stands firm. Haaretz is reporting that Olmert's office issued a rare diplomatic correction saying:
"In a special statement of clarification, the bureau stressed that Olmert had told Pelosi that Israel continued to regard Syria as 'part of the axis of evil and a party encouraging terrorism in the entire Middle East.'According to sources at the Prime Minister's Office, 'Pelosi took part of the things that were said in the meeting, and used what suited her.'"
Nancy Pelosi however takes a different view. In a statement from Pelosi's Web site the trip and the mission to Syria was described this way:
"'In the interest of our national security and the stability of the region, the delegation strongly urged President Assad to control Syria’s border with Iraq to stop the flow of foreign fighters who are a threat to U.S. troops and to the Iraqi people. Syria must also stop supporting terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, and must end any interference in Lebanon's internal affairs.'We emphasized to President Assad that peace with Israel is essential to a U.S.-Syria relationship. We conveyed to him Prime Minister's Olmert's overture for peace talks when Syria openly takes steps to stop supporting terrorism.
'President Assad declared that he is ready to resume the peace process and enter into negotiations. The test will be whether Syria ceases its support for terrorism, engages in a productive and realistic effort to resolve its differences and live in peace with the State of Israel, and acts to stop the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq.
'We requested Assad's help in freeing missing and kidnapped Israeli soldiers including: Gilad Shalit; Ehud Goldwasser; Eldad Regev; Guy Hever; Zachary Baumel; Tzvi Feldman; Yehuda Katz; and Ron Arad. And we requested the return of the remains of Eli Cohen for burial in Israel.
'In Damascus, we met with opposition leaders and representatives of families of dissidents. We conveyed our strong interest in the cases of Iraqi Democracy Activists Anwar al-Bunni; Aref Dalila; Kamal al-Labwani; Mahmoud Issa; Michael Kilo; and Omar Abdullah."
That statement sounds exactly the same as the Republican hawks position. And it has the same kind of illogical demand that Syria publically deny that it openly supports terrorism. A claim that is not in evidence. (If readers can point out a primary source that authoritatively states Syria, as a state in its official capacity, has publically advocated terrorist acts please notify us.)
Pelosi's blog, The Gavel, also carried a piece yesterday from a blogger called Karina who takes issue with a Washington Post editorial critical of Pelosi's claim of carrying a message to Syria on behalf of Israel by flatly claiming "Speaker Pelosi accurately relayed a message given to her by Israeli Prime Minister Olmert to Syrian President Assad."
The blog article continues by outlining "the facts" as Pelosi's blogger at least sees them:
"The tough and serious message the Speaker relayed was that, in order for Israel to engage in talks with Syria, the Syrian government must eliminate its links with extremist elements, including Hamas and Hezbollah."
Again, this is no different from the Bush administration's position. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are able to face the fact that both Hezbollah and Hamas grew out of resistance to Israeli occupation that is illegal under UN Resolutions dating decades before the formation of these latest "terrorist" groups.
The US military, if not the civilian leadership, should be acutely aware of how fast these groups spring up in resistance to occupation given the situation that the Americans currently find themselves in with the US led Iraq Civil War. The same would happen in any US State that was illegally occupied by a foreign force. There would be homegrown A-Team like "Hannibal Smiths" coming out of the woodwork; working against such an occupation with an incredible ferociousness that would make the French Resistance during WWII look like child's play.
Even though Speaker Pelosi is echoing the neocon line, she still made history by her trip to Saudi Arabia who is sponsoring a peace initiative that has far more of a chance of succeeding with a viable and just solution to the Israeli occupation of Palestine than the long dead "Road Map" ever could.
She sat in the chair of her Saudi Arabian counterpart in the unelected advisory council to the Saudi Kingdom according to The Scotsman:
"'It's a nice view from here," said Ms Pelosi as she sat in the chair, facing the ornate chamber with its deep blue and yellow chairs and gilded ironwork. 'This chair is very comfortable.'"
That's historic, and middle aged white male Republican political hacks and the Ann Coulter who resembles them cannot take that away from this strong woman who made an historic attempt at doing what George W. Bush has so dismally failed at accomplishing, diplomacy in the midst of the lion's den.