Speaker undercuts America overseas

With authority separate from and equal to that of the executive branch, members of Congress don't need anyone's permission to travel overseas and do "fact-finding."

Things can get dicey, however, during a time of war -- declared or otherwise -- when an opportunity for a foreign dictator to pose, smiling and shaking hands with high-ranking members of Congress, can be used to dampen concerns among the locals that such potentates are steering their nations into harm's way by displeasing America.

So what if Syria stands accused of turning Lebanon, once the pearl of the Middle East, into a killing field? So what if many suspect the Syrians of the car-bomb assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, two years ago? So what if the White House warns Syria that it had better stop facilitating the flow of arms and men into Iraq, where such munitions are used to kill and maim American servicemen?

Are such warnings really to be taken seriously if one American congressional delegation after another stops by Damascus during their tours of the Mideast, visiting the ruins, scooping up the hummus and tabouli, posing for smiling photographs with host and hereditary dictator Bashar Assad as he charmingly asserts that he wants peace, nothing but peace ... just as soon as all those Jews are pushed into the sea?

And what if the visitor isn't merely U.S. Rep. Joe Schmoe from Nowhere, U.S.A., but no less a figure than Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, second in line of succession to the presidency?

Ms. Pelosi's April 3 visit to Syria drew strong and repeated criticism from the White House in recent days.

"It sends the wrong message to have high-level U.S. officials go over there to have photo opportunities that Assad then exploits," explained White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

"The government of Syria continues to undermine the democratically elected government of Lebanon," Ms. Perino continued. "They are allowing foreign enemy fighters to pass into Iraq through its border with Iraq, which is not only targeting our American soldiers, but Iraqi soldiers, as well as innocent Iraqi people. He (Assad) knows that."

Ms. Pelosi responded that Republican members of Congress have also visited Syria.

"Our policy and our feelings apply to everybody," Ms. Perino replied on Monday. "We ask that people not go on these trips. We discourage it. Full stop."

The State Department later said Ms. Pelosi was briefed by the Bush administration for her trip, but spokesman Sean McCormack said that did not represent an endorsement of the visit.

In Damascus, a state-run newspaper welcomed Ms. Pelosi's visit, saying that through dialogue "a lot of misunderstandings (with the United States) could be removed."

Ms. Pelosi explains she hoped to speak to the Syrians about Iraq, their role in the fight against terrorism, their support for militant groups such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas -- whose exiled leaders live in Damascus -- as well their influence in Lebanon.

Kind of like ... an ambassador?

In Lebanon, Ms. Pelosi even met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a major figure in the Hezbollah-led opposition. Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

"Everybody else does it" is a familiar excuse, but rarely a good one. Miscommunication in foreign affairs can have serious consequences. Remember what happened when April Glaspie told Saddam Hussein that the United States was not concerned about his border squabble with Kuwait?

Ms. Pelosi is spreading her wings, attempting to demonstrate some independence. Fine. But for congressional Democrats to attempt to develop a separate foreign policy from that of the branch charged with that responsibility -- recall that the Democrats control neither the White House nor the State Department -- can only invite disastrous confusion and miscalculation overseas.

Imagine the public response if a speaker of the House had attempted to open separate lines of communications with, say, Red China during the Korean War.

Last year, a bipartisan commission known as the Iraq Study Group recommended the United States launch a new diplomatic initiative with Syria and Iran. The Bush administration rejected the idea. Ms. Pelosi apparently wishes to reverse that decision.

But there is an appropriate avenue available to her to effect that change. As columnist Thomas Sowell points out on the opposite page, she can run for president.