Dartblog

Senator Bill Nelson, who is not an appointed representative. With Assad. (Reuters/Sana)

When the United States transacts politics with other sovereign states, it has one face and one voice: President Bush, or any plenipotentiary he may choose. No matter how deeply some may wish this was not so, and no matter how often the Left says to itself, “Not my president,” this is the truth. And today’s wild, wild Democratic party is more guilty than any in memory of violating this crucial rule of the world of nation-states: that politics ends at the water’s edge. First Al Gore flew to Stockholm, rose up in front of the Swedes, and at length bemoaned that he lost the 2004 election, criticized America’s war effort, and pined openly for different policy.

Now, Democratic Senator Bill Nelson is following in Gore’s footsteps. Even though the State Department—arguably the department most sympathetic to the Democratic worldview—officially expressed its disapproval of the trip, Senator Nelson traveled to Damascus to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

It bears repeating. Over the objections of the State Department, in eschewal of the centuries-old idea of loyal dissent, and in essential contravention of the chief executive, a lone senator undertook to negotiate with the president of a nation which most likely is an active enemy (in so far as it is fueling the terrorists in Iraq) of the United States.

Assad “clearly indicated a willingness to cooperate” in controlling its border with Iraq, Nelson told reporters in a conference call following the meeting with Assad. The U.S. says foreign fighters often enter Iraq across that boundary.

Nelson said he reported the information to embassy officials and will brief his congressional committees on the trip. He said he expects Senators John Kerry, Christopher Dodd and Arlen Specter to also visit Syria.

Assad indicated a willingness to cooperate? Well, that is easy enough to explain. He lied to the senator, the dupe. And because the senator undertook to be lied to by an enemy leader, that leader is bolstered. Any incentive he may have had to deal with the White House has been shot through. He knows he has a friend elsewhere in America. And he’ll just abide. No one will be able to measure, except years from now through the lens of history, what damage thoughtlessly partisan men like Nelson do. Senator Nelson should be ashamed of himself.

And yes—I’d be writing precisely the same thing were the parties reversed.