Pelosi’s Netanyahu Complaint: The Democratic Leader Wasn’t ‘Near Tears’ When She Courted Assad.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/pelosis-netanyahu-complaint-1425513592
Benjamin Netanyahu ’s speech to Congress Tuesday has garnered praise from some unusual corners, including Saudi columnists, liberal pundits and even former Obama Administration Iran czar Dennis Ross, who acknowledged in an op-ed that the Israeli Prime Minister “made a strong case” against a prospective nuclear deal with Iran.
But Nancy Pelosi is not impressed.
The House Minority Leader did not join the 50 or so of her Democratic colleagues in boycotting Mr. Netanyahu’s address. But she let it be known that she was “near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech,” saying she found it “an insult to the intelligence of the United States” and that she was “saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran.”
Mrs. Pelosi’s horror at an ally addressing Congress reminds us of her rather different reaction during her most significant foray into Mideast politics. Shortly after becoming House Speaker in 2007, Mrs. Pelosi led a Congressional delegation to meet Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. “We were very pleased with the assurances we received from [ Mr. Assad ] that he was ready to resume the peace process,” she reported after shaking hands with the dictator and adversary of America.
The visit was seen at the time as a rebuke to the Bush Administration, which was then trying to isolate Assad for the safe harbor he provided jihadists on their way to joining the insurgency in Iraq, his military support for Hezbollah, his depredations in Lebanon and his covert efforts to build a nuclear reactor with the help of North Korea.
Assad’s nuclear gambit wasn’t known at the time—it took an Israeli bombing run later that year to expose its existence. But the rest of Mr. Assad’s behavior was no secret even then, long before his name became associated with killing his people with sarin gas and barrel bombs.
That’s why Mr. Netanyahu was right to remind Congress that the way Tehran behaves toward its people and its neighbors is the ultimate reason why the mullahs can’t be trusted with a nuclear program. It’s a lesson about dealing with dictators that Mrs. Pelosi might have learned from her Syria misadventure, and that’s enough to bring anyone to tears.
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