Perhaps the American Speaker knows what she's doing after all..
Frankly, when I heard that Nancy Pelosi is coming to Syria (to the objection of the White House), I felt my heart sink; Bashar was going to receive the highest-ranking American in two years, and his apologists are already celebrating the "collapse of Syria's isolation".
Are we going to be sold out? There are signs that perhaps not. Two things indicate that Pelosi's position will be more nuanced than paranoid Lebanese fear.
First, madame speaker is traveling with Tom Lantos, a democratic Representative well known for his Hardline stances on Syria. If anything, he will help her understand the nature of the Syrian regime and reduce her rose-tainted vision on Syria.
Second, the symbolism in her itinerary.
The first thing Pelosi did after landing in Beirut (which she visited before Damascus), is visit Hariri's grave. She then visited Majority Leader Saad Hariri, then P.M Seniora, in that order. If she weren't Pelosi herself, you'd be sure Assad would have cancelled the meeting with her by now.
Pelosi's message is clear: We are going to speak with Assad. But we're still committed to Lebanon.
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