VMC SURVEY BOARD

[deathtotaxes]

The Bush administration blasted the Dems & Pelosi for going to Syria! What a bunch of idiots!

Historic meeting with Rice ends Syria's diplomatic isolation
By Rupert Cornwell
Published: 04 May 2007
The Bush administration has ended its diplomatic quarantine of Syria by having the Secretary of State meet her counterpart from Damascus during a conference in Egypt that the US hopes will be a first step towards restoring stability to Iraq

The move is a sharp reversal of strategy, given the invective that the White House only last month was pouring on a trip to the Syrian capital by Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House, and its criticism of visits by other members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike.

But, as Iraq has descends into chaos and even US generals admit there is no military solution to the conflict, pressure has intensified on President George Bush to abandon his long-standing refusal to engage directly with Syria and Iran - neighbours of Iraq whether he likes it or not, and whatever his objections to their policies. Such contacts were strongly urged by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group in its report last December, but at the time were brushed aside by Mr Bush.

Ms Rice held the ice-breaking, 30-minute bilateral session yesterday with Walid al-Moualem, the Syrian Foreign Minister, who was escorted into her presence by the Egyptian Foreign Minister. The meeting, the first of its kind in two years, was "frank and constructive," Mr Moualem told reporters afterwards. Ms Rice described it as "businesslike and professional."

For their part, US officials insisted the talks dealt exclusively with the vexed issue of transit and sanctuary for foreign fighters and insurgents, and not with Syria's involvement in Lebanon and its suspected hand in the 2005 murder of the former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Not by coincidence, US commanders claim that Damascus is indeed doing more to stop the flow of fighters into Iraq. "There has been some movement by the Syrians over the last month," Maj-Gen William Caldwell, the chief US military spokesman in Baghdad, said hours before Ms Rice and Mr Moualem met.

However, the prospect of a similar encounter between the Secretary of State and her Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, is far more uncertain. The pair apparently exchanged pleasantries during lunch after the opening session of the two-day conference, but did not discuss politics. "They said hello. It was not about substance," Sean McCormack, Ms Rice's spokesman said.

The caution underscores the depth of the generation-long rift between Washington and Tehran. The US has been without an ambassador in Damascus since February 2005, but it has not had formal diplomatic relations of any kind with Tehran in almost 30 years. The two are at odds not merely over Iraq, but over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons ambitions, and its support of what the US considers terrorist groups in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.

The "will they-won't they" diplomatic dance between the US and its two traditional rivals in the region has dominated proceedings at the Red Sea resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh. These are also focussing on aid and debt relief to Iraq, in return for precise economic commitments by the government of Nouri al-Maliki.

Casting a shadow over the entire exercise are doubts about the ability of Mr Maliki to bridge sectarian divides and create a viable political framework for his country. In a pre-conference meeting, Ms Rice bluntly told the Prime Minister he must do more to speed reconciliation between Sunnis and Shias.

Meanwhile, signs are emerging here of a compromise between the White House and the Democrat-controlled Congress on the $124bn (£62bn) Iraq and Afghanistan funding bill vetoed on Tuesday by President Bush.

The Democrats are signalling that they will no longer include specific target dates for a US troop withdrawal in a new bill. Instead they will seek benchmarks linking funding to progress by the Iraqi government on major issues. Many Republicans support a measure along these lines.