It's not surprising that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, having entered the nether world of Middle East diplomacy, has committed a blunder and made something of a fool of herself. Her critics, however, should not try to use this as ammunition to make her stay out of this arena. Instead, the Speaker should pick herself up, dust herself off and try again.
The Speaker told reporters in Damascus that she had delivered a message from Israel during her meetings with Syrian officials. Unfortunately for her, Israel immediately denied this. She made things worse by saying she would offer her "good offices to promoting peace between Israel and Syria." Essentially, her statements had all the markings of an amateur in over her head.
The Speaker overreached herself, and now she is paying the price in decreased credibility as a diplomatic negotiator. It won't be the first time a politician has done this, and I'm sure it won't be the last.
But we never expected her to be Henry Kissinger, or even Condoleeza Rice. We just wanted her to go and demonstrate that there are those in the United States who realize that talking with our enemies is a worthwhile undertaking. That much, she did accomplish, and I hope she will do so again in the future.
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