Pelosi dares to visit Damascus

It shouldn't be difficult for mature adults to agree that cutting off communication is not a mature or effective way to deal with disagreements.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has met with Syrian President Bassar al-Assad, and President Bush is making clear his displeasure over the meeting. He says Pelosi has given Syria the mistaken impression that Syria has been allowed back into the mainstream of the world community.

When children become angry at a parent or a friend, they sometimes resort to what they consider the ultimate nuclear option, declaring: "I'll never talk to you again for the rest of my life. NOT EVER EVER EVER!!!" Should the United States, as the leading country of the world, be acting like a spoiled child?

It is not helpful to U.S. interests to be giving the impression that we expect other countries to consider it a privilege to be granted the right to engage in two-way discussions us. During the Cold War, we talked regularly with the Soviet Union. We never talked to Cuba. Today, the Soviet Union is gone, and Cuba's Marxist regime is still with us. Based on that, it seems talking to our enemies is not so bad an idea after all.

Perhaps the Speaker can swing by North Korea on her way home?