Bush sends mixed messages

by Mario Hernandez

Daily Lobo columnist

In a trip that started Friday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is traveling throughout the Middle East, meeting with political leaders. Although most countries on the list wouldn't raise much of an eyebrow, one country - Syria - caught the attention of not only the Bush administration, but also the mass media. This is due to the fact that Pelosi is the highest-ranking American official to visit Syria and speak with its president since 1994, when President Bill Clinton met with then-President Hafez al-Assad.

Of course, the White House has publicly derided this trip, openly discouraging Pelosi from taking it. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino added, "We think that someone should take a step back and think about the message that it sends ... to our allies."

While it is important that a heavy-hitter such as Pelosi not send the wrong message to our allies - the few that we have left - it is also important not to send the wrong message through inaction and flawed policies. By not actively seeking the participation of surrounding countries in Middle Eastern affairs, we are sending a message of idiocy, stubbornness and pride. With the promise of Tony Blair to withdraw British troops from Iraq, it is clear that we have not been thinking about the

message that we have been sending, not even to the most prized of our allies. Perhaps we should worry about what our biggest friends have to say before we worry about upsetting other nations in the Coalition of the Willing, like Georgia, Latvia or El Salvador.

The White House was also quick to note that Syria is a "state sponsor of terror," that it is trying to "disrupt" the Lebanese government and that it "allows foreign fighters to flow through its borders to Iraq." This is strange, considering that one of the biggest terrorist hot spots on the globe, Saudi Arabia, is directly south of Iraq, and not once has Bush thought about what sort of message visiting that country would send to our allies. If we want to get factual, most of the Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudis, and Saudi Arabia is also one of the largest contributors to the Taliban.

Bush, in the past, has also accused Syria of endorsing Hezbollah - the militant group in Lebanon - and aiding the Sunni insurgency in Iraq with weapons and fighters. However, Saudi Arabia also supports Hezbollah - the very same group that the White House chastised Syria for supporting. As for the Sunni insurgency in Iraq, Syria isn't contributing nearly enough resources to aid in that effort as Saudi Arabia, a Sunni-dominated country. This, however, doesn't stop Bush from visiting Saudi Arabia and literally holding hands with its ruler.

Pelosi and the Iraq study group have it right. We should try to involve as many countries as we can in the rebuilding of Iraq. All the commotion surrounding this trip by Pelosi is foolish and a waste of time. Any way you spin it, the White House is fixing your gaze in one direction while drawing your attention away from the larger, more important picture.

It is strange that the administration has asked Pelosi to think about the message she is sending our allies when it is sending a message of confusion, hypocrisy, pride and ignorance. How can we condone speaking with one country that supports terrorism and not another?

With this trip, maybe the rest of the world will think we are actually trying to get out of this situation as best as we possibly can, instead of digging ourselves deeper. With this trip, maybe we finally have the message right.

Mario Hernandez is a UNM political science major.