Tale of Two Visits

This past week high-profile American politicians paid a visit to the other two members of the “axis of evil”. On the one hand, the White House seemed happy to allow for one trip and were irritated by the other. It is very interesting to note the very different reactions that the White House and the media seemed to have to the Nancy Pelosi- lead delegation to Syria and that of Gov. Bill Richardson to North Korea

Granted, North Korea cannot be called the risk that Syria is at this moment. Yes, they have nuclear weapons but no accurate way to aim them. They also cannot be traced to Americans losing their lives in any of the current armed conflicts. The main reason for this of course is that, they do not have the resources to even think about causing any trouble.

Syria on the other hand, they are a very different story. They allow insurgents to cross their border in Iraq and support terrorist groups like Hamas. They do not recognize Israel among their very many sins. They look as though they will not cooperate with the West and as they have support of their neighbors, really have no need to.

So that brings me back to these two trips. Nancy Pelosi was well within her right to visit the Prime Minister of Syria. The media has been making a big deal about what seems like her overstepping her bounds as Speaker of the House. It has been a long political tradition that the Executive and the Senate are the ones that make Foreign Policy. If Henry Reid went I am sure the backlash would not have been as bad, but she went with a mostly Democratic delegation. She acted as though she was there to initiate diplomatic relations. She did so without a State Department rep or someone from Senate foreign relations.

What has been ignored is that she was not the first one from the House side to make the trip. Rep. Darrel Issa also went with a group of Republican members. His visit was quieter and no one seemed to pay that much attention. The idea though is that he went and he talked with both Israeli and Syrian leaders. No one questioned what he was doing there. Most likely because he was “towing the line” unlike Pelosi who is well known to harbor different ideals than her right honorable friends and the man in the white house.

Gov. Richardson’s visit on the other hand represents a long standing relationship he has had within the diplomatic community. He is able to go on these trips despite his party affliation because they trust him. They know he has towed the line before for both Republican and Democratic presidents, he will continue to do that here. And again, North Korea in the grand scheme of things is no where near as dangerous as Syria at this moment in time.

The media and White House are currently saying that he has no intention to negotiate anything beyond the return of remains but that fails to explain the other news that is coming out of the nuclear talks. Why is it that Richardson goes over there and all the sudden things seem to be going America’s way? I guess it must be true that the bad guys really do like Richardson (Daily Show 03/28). Not to be a conspiracy theorist but he has a relationship with these people, they still come to him for advice (DNC winter meeting). It would then seem logical that the Bush administration would turn to him to help them as he has been successful in the past.

Boiled down what do we have: Inexperianced Oppositional Congressional leader seemingly with a Vendetta against the current Administration vs. a Presidential Candiate visiting old friends. This is an interesting dichotomy between the two situations. What effect if any does this have on 2008, especially if it comes out that Richardson is the one responsible for brokering a deal? Richardson is the unsung hero in all of this if that is true. Though Pelosi is drawing heat for her visit, I feel some good might come out of the dialogue. This is also the chance to give her some more experience in being a statesperson, something that should come in handy as she deals with what seems to be a foreign ideology every time she has to deal with the White House.