I wanted to publish this earlier, but because I published a diary in the wee hours of the night last night, I couldn't.
From the AP:
In a direct affront to the Bush administration, a Democratic senator spent an hour Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, emerging from the meeting to say Assad was willing to help control the Iraq-Syrian border. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, met with Assad after the State Department said that it disapproved of his trip.
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Moreover:
Also expected to visit Syria is Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa..
Folks, this is what I'm talking about. If our idiot-in-chief isn't willing to conduct diplomacy, then it is time for Congress to step in and, as William E. Jackson Jr. (who served in national security posts in the Senate, the State Department and the executive office of the president) wrote in a letter that appeared in the New York Times yesterday, "use blunt instruments." Bush has already just said today that he refuses to withdraw the army from Iraq until the "mission is accomplished" and Iraq is stable (which means decades of American involvement, imho--he is completely divorced from reality). He acts as though he has a mandate from the people to do what he wants, when it's the exact opposite: the majority of the country is now favoring a timetable for a troop pullout, and moreover elected the Dems because they wanted a new direction in Iraq.
I wrote a diary yesterday about the need for this administration to engage both its allies (well, whatever allies it has left) and its foes in constructive dialogue. This is how we can really get things done. Assad's regime may be nasty, but sometimes you have to dance with the devil, as they say, to achieve your objectives. That's the reality of the international system. If Bush continues to reject diplomacy, then it's bloody well time for somebody to politically neuter him. Bush is acting like a child and throwing a tantrum here; now the adults need to step in and fix this mess.
P.S. You'll all get a laugh out of this passage from the article; it's sheer ridiculousness:
''The Syrian regime should immediately free all political prisoners, including Aref Dalila, Michel Kilo, Anwar al-Bunni, Mahmoud Issa, and Kamal Labwani,'' Bush said. ''I am deeply troubled by reports that some ailing political prisoners are denied health care while others are held in cells with violent criminals.''
Oh really, Mr. Abu Ghraib/Gitmo? Of course Syria should release these political prisoners, but who are you to talk? Honestly, who can take him seriously these days?
Update: I don't like Bill Nelson very much and wouldn't trust him farther than I could throw him, but for once he's doing something useful. Let's hope more Senators and Representatives follow suit.