US House Speaker trip to Syria criticized by White House
Lebanon-Syria-USA, Politics, 4/2/2007

Asked that the US Congressional House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in Beirut today that she's criticizing the White House for what she says is ignoring other Republican lawmakers who have made trips to Syria in recent days. And, also, she said she thinks it's a good idea to establish facts and to try to build confidence with Syria. Why is that not a good idea?

White House Spokesperson Dana Perino today said " Let me unpack that a little bit. First of all, last week when I was asked about her specific trip, I said in my comments that, in general, we discourage members from going to the region. And that is true. In fact, I looked back, when Tony Snow was asked at this podium months ago, when Senator Nelson made a similar trip, he said the same, that this was a blanket policy -- but I was asked a specific question about Speaker Pelosi, which is why I said that.
Speaker Pelosi is a high-ranking United States official. Nothing changes -- nothing has changed in Syria's behavior over the years when high-ranking US officials go to see them. We sent Secretary Powell early on; the behavior doesn't change. Syria uses these opportunities to flaunt photo opportunities around its country and around the region and around the world, to say that they aren't isolated, that they don't need to change their behavior, and it alleviates the pressure that we are trying to put on them to change their behavior."

Perino "And by changing their behavior I mean as in, stop undermining the democratically elected government of Lebanon; stop allowing foreign fighters to flow from Syria into Iraq, in which they are then killing American soldiers and innocent Iraqis and Iraqi soldiers. They are state sponsors of terrorism, of both Hezbollah and Hamas, and they support Palestinian terrorism."

Perino added "And so that was the reason that we said that we discouraged her from going. But that policy applies to all. So I think that maybe she wasn't able to see my exact comments, so I won't judge her on that. But the policy applies everywhere."

Asked if in the White House views, her trip is, effectively, endangering US troops in the region, Perino said "I'm not suggesting that. I think that the people who are endangering US troops in the region are the people who are perpetrating the violence, and the Syrians, who are allowing these foreign fighters to cross the border into Iraq unabated. There's no judgment in regards to her actions leading to any possible troop being attacked by someone coming from Syria, no. What I'm saying is that it sends the wrong message; it alleviates the pressure off of Syria from things that I mentioned before, which is the human rights situation in Syria, the Palestinian terrorism situation, the support of Hamas and Hizbullah, undermining Siniora's government, the democratically-elected government of Lebanon. These things are real. We want Assad to take action and change his behavior in regards to those items. But the more US officials go there and try to talk with him, the less he feels the pressure to change. And so we haven't seen change in many years, and we think that the best thing to do is to keep them -- to show that they are isolated and that their behavior is unacceptable."

Pelosi expressed support for the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon and said the "road leads to Damascus" for some of the country's problems. Speaking after talks with Head of the Future Bloc in Parliament MP Saad Hariri, she supported American diplomatic engagement of Syria, and highlighted the need to create the international tribunal to try the suspects in Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.

The House Speaker, leading a Congressional delegation to the meeting in Koreitem, told reporters her trip to the Middle East aims at making the world safer and to fight terrorism. She reiterated solidarity with Lebanon following the assassination of Premier Hariri, and expressed her hope that the Cedar Revolution, which she described as one hundred percent Lebanese, will succeed.

Speaker Pelosi said she is aware of the challenges and problems facing MP Hariri and Lebanon. She voiced support for US dialogue with Syria and said during the delegations' upcoming meetings in Damascus, they will address Syria's role in Iraq and its support for Hamas and Hizbullah. The goal is to foster confidence with Damascus, Pelosi added, although there are no illusions, just big hopes.

Previous Stories:
  Syria, United States exchange views on Iraqi refugees   (3/13/2007)
  Fazlallah on Shiites, Sunnis relations in Lebanon   (3/6/2007)
  Rice: Aid to Lebanon supports reforms   (1/27/2007)
  Nasrullah: US revived Middle East plan a failure   (1/20/2007)
  Iraq for best relations with Syria, Iran, US   (1/13/2007)
  Senators Dodd, Kerry meeting al-Assad in Syria   (12/23/2006)
  Hariri and the US support to Lebanon   (11/18/2006)
  Bush says no deal with Syria on Hariri investigation   (3/11/2006)
  White House on Syria-Lebanon issue   (3/8/2006)

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