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December 16, 2006
Defying Bush, Specter Plans Syria Trip ~ Yep It's Contagious!
Defying Bush, Specter Plans Syria Trip
Newsmax
Sen. Arlen Specter, a 26-year Senate Republican, said he will visit Syria despite loud objections by the Bush administration, contending the situation in Iraq is so dire that it is time Congress step up to the plate and see what it can do.
Specter, R-Pa., said in an interview late Friday that he is planning a trip to the Middle East that will include Israel and Syria. The senator said he and other Republicans are concerned that the administration's policies in the Middle East are not working and that other GOP members may follow in his footsteps.
"I've talked to my Republican colleagues, and there is a disquiet here," Specter said.
The visit, coming on the heels of a trip by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, would be a direct affront to the White House. The United States has limited diplomatic ties with Syria because of its support for Hezbollah and Hamas, which the U.S. deems terrorist organizations. President Bush has expressed reluctance to seek help from Damascus on Iraq until the Syrians curb that support and reduce their influence in Lebanon.
The White House sharply criticized Nelson, a Democrat, for visiting Syria despite Nelson's assertion that the meeting was helpful. Nelson said Syrian President Bashar Assad said he was willing to help control the Iraq-Syrian border, where foreign fighters cross into Iraq.
"We think it's inappropriate," White House spokesman Tony Snow said Thursday of the planned congressional trips to the region. In addition to Nelson and Specter, Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., were expected to visit Syria.
"The concern here, among other things, is that this does not strengthen the hand of democracy in the region ... but instead allows the Syrians to dodge the real responsibilities they have," Snow said.
White House spokesman Alex Conant said late Friday that Snow's comments hold true for Specter as well.
The diplomatic push from Congress found revived inspiration from a bipartisan panel that recently recommended the U.S. engage Iran and Syria on the war in Iraq. Bush has remained cool to the proposal by the Iraq Study Group, which was led by former GOP Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind.
In recent days, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Specter in a telephone call not to go to Syria, the senator said. But Specter, who had acquiesced previously to similar requests, said time was up.
"I deferred to them a year ago, and I deferred to them last August," Specter said. "And if there were any signs the administrative policy (in the Middle East) was working, I'd defer to them again."
Specter said he wasn't under the impression he would walk away with a diplomatic deal or believed he was stepping on anyone's toes. But, he added, lawmakers could conduct fact-finding trips that could help inform discussions and still leave foreign policy negotiations up to the White House.
"I now believe that with the report of the independent study group and the administration policy, which is not working, there should be a fresh look at it by Congress," said Specter, who chairs the Judiciary Committee and is a senior member of the Appropriations panel.
Specter's interest in Syria - and willingness to buck White House party line - is nothing new. The Republican has visited Syria 15 times since 1984 and even attended the funeral of Assad's father. The senator visited with then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 1990 and has tried repeatedly to engage officials in Iran, although to no avail.
Specter has challenged the Bush administration's position on other matters as well, including the White House policy toward terrorism suspects.
Wild Thing's comment......
Good lord! Is something in the water they are all drinking? When is thistreason going to stop???!!! Perhaps for once in his not so illustrious career Specter will do what is best for the USA and stay in Syria. What an interloping, seditionist creep. Meglomania, thy name is RINO RAT.
Well this says it all about Specter:
Specter's interest in Syria - and willingness to buck White House party line - is nothing new. The Republican has visited Syria 15 times since 1984 and even attended the funeral of Assad's father. The senator visited with then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 1990 and has tried repeatedly to engage officials in Iran, although to no avail.
Posted by Wild Thing at December 16, 2006 02:47 AM
Comments
Why don't we just pull our troops out of the MidEast and deploy our Senate. Lots of advantages in this concept. Embed an entire MSM news service with each Senator and we will have removed from American soil a good percentage of the hot air that may be causing "global warming".
Posted by: TomR at December 16, 2006 07:17 AM
We had the chance to be rid of the RINO Specter but Bush, like a fool, supported him in 2004.
If the Republicans would have voted in term limits, clowns like Specter, Kennedy, and Kerry would be gone.
Posted by: BobF at December 16, 2006 10:28 AM
Happiness would be seeing his severed head displayed, but they'll protect this treasonous POS because he is working for them. This rotten bastard was a lawyer on the Warren Commission, just to get an idea of how long he's been in corrupt politics. If this is the best the Republican party can offer, we deserve to lose.
Posted by: Jack at December 16, 2006 12:35 PM
Spector was the 'slip and fall' lawyer that represented Ira Einhorne, that piece of human garbage that killed his girlfriend, dismembered her body, stuffed it a trunk in his closet, he finally got caught when the stench got so bad his neighbore called the police. He was arrested on the spot and was not supposed to get bail, but Arlen Spector, got him bail, a day later Einhorn promptly disappeard,... for twenty years.
Arlen Spector has been a piece of crap for an awfully long time.
Tom is right send the whole damn bunch, all 535 of them, to Iraq, and send them out on patrol, then we will see who the real men are.
Posted by: Mark at December 16, 2006 12:55 PM
Tom OMG I love it!!!
"Why don't we just pull our troops out of the MidEast and deploy our Senate".........
brillant!!!!
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 16, 2006 11:11 PM
Bob I agree so much. Term limits would take out a lot of bad ones and it would keep them knowing they better make a difference in the right way too.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 16, 2006 11:13 PM
Jack I truly can't stand Specter, I never liked him.....never.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 16, 2006 11:14 PM
Mark I agree, I'm not sure but I think most of them never served our country in the military.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 16, 2006 11:16 PM
A lot of politicans are like having warts in a
very bad place...
Posted by: Tincan Sailor at December 17, 2006 07:59 PM
Damn I forgot, I wonder if he took his knee pads
chap-stick and KY-Jelly???
Posted by: Tincan Sailor at December 17, 2006 08:01 PM
