Dinesh D'Souza

Dinesh D'Souza is one of favorite political writers. I think he was right on with the following comments. We (all Americans) continue to pay a price for Republicans trying to undermine the Clinton administration. It seems the Democrats would have learned from the Republican mistakes. Yet, politics in America is not about doing the right thing, it is about gaining power.

Pelosi Romances a Dictator

by Dinesh D'Souza

Is it entirely surprising that Nancy Pelosi is in Syria and just met with the country's ruler Bashar Assad and several of his henchmen? Consider Assad's credentials:

a) He is a vicious dictator
b) He is vehemently anti-American
c) He backs terrorist groups both of the Sunni and Shia variety, like the insurgents in Iraq, Hamas, and Hezbollah


No wonder Pelosi thinks Assad can be helpful in solving the Iraq problem. At first glance this seems ridiculous. What exactly can we expect from this man? Sure enough, conservative commentary has focused on exposing Pelosi's naivete.

But this criticism of Pelosi is itself naive. It assumes that Pelosi and the conservatives have the same goals, which clearly they do not. Yes, both want to solve the Iraq problem, but "solving" the problem for Pelosi and her fellow Democrats means embarassing President Bush by defeating his Iraq policy. This is the objective.


To this end Assad is indeed an ally of the liberal Democrats. By bringing to the table a secular dictator devoted to undermining the elected Iraqi government and helping our enemies, Pelosi and her fellow-travelers ensure that America's position in Iraq is further weakened. Then they can set about blaming Bush for getting us into Iraq in the first place.

If you assume that Pelosi is trying to bolster America's position in the Middle East, her actions become virtually incomprehensible. On the other hand, if you assume that she's trying to give President Bush a political black eye, and thus clear the way for a Democratic contender to take the big prize in 2008, her actions make perfect sense.