BULLETIN No. 183

Editorial Pratfall in Damascus Nancy Pelosi's foolish shuttle diplomacy
Al Hayat Nancy Pelosi in Damascus Daoud Shirian - Pelosi's visit to Damascus is an opportunity to polish the image of the Democrats. Damascus knows that Nancy is not a decision maker in US politics and that her visit is just a temporary anesthetic for a real crisis between the US and Damascus.
Israel vs. Bush & the Neoconservatives on Syria? ...By Juan Cole
Forward Olmert Aides Say Pelosi Botched Message to Assad
Pelosi says Israel open to Syrian talks
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she had relayed a message from Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad that Israel is ready for peace talks
Pelosi talks to Assad with no authorization by the U.S.
Pelosi Meets Syrian President Despite Objections From Bush House Speaker Calls Talks With Assad 'Very Productive'
Pelosi challenges Bush policy by visiting Syria· House speaker holds talks with President Assad· Peace message from Israeli PM relayed to Damascus
Syria: We helped in Iran-Britain dispute
Pelosi Stumbles in Syria - Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard
Analysis: Pelosi enters the fray of Middle East diplomacy
Wall Street Journal Democrats at War Prime Minister Pelosi and Secretary of State Lantos undermine U.S. foreign policy--and maybe their own party.
Analysis: Hopes dim for Syria talks
Boston Globe Pelosi's balancing act overseas
EVEN AS a matter of political self-interest, President Bush made himself look bad by carping about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit yesterday in Damascus with Syria's president, Bashar Assad.
Playing with fire By Thomas Sowell Until Nancy Pelosi came along, it was understood by all that we had only one president at a time and -- like him or not -- he alone had the constitutional authority to speak for this country to foreign nations, especially in wartime.
Nancy Pelosi's Syrian adventure
Syria tells Pelosi it's ready for peace talks...
Young & Landis Debate Pelosi Visit on Public Radio
Daily Star Human rights in Syria; Pelosi's silence By Nadim Houry
Diplo Show Turns Into Damascus A**-Kiss By: John Podhoretz New York PostThis week on the road to Damascus, riding on the Democratic donkey, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was struck blind by a prideful ambition - the ambition to conduct a foreign policy for the United States toward the terrorist nation of Syria separate from the one conducted by the president.
Daily Star Why Pelosi's visit to Damascus upset the neocons so much
Los Angeles Times EditorialThe speaker goes to Syria Bush's criticism of Nancy Pelosi's visit to Syria is off-base. It's time someone from the U.S. broke the ice.
Pelosi’s Delegation Presses Syrian Leader on Militants
Syria, Israel may resume peace talks
Syria, Hizbullah, Iran prepare in case of war Defensive measures taken amid US-Iran tensions spur concern about accidental conflict
“What do we know about the Syrian Economy?” by Ehsani

French Constants in Lebanon Randa Takieddin - If the coming president is Sarkozy he has confirmed time and again that he will not bargain over the international tribunal or the independence or sovereignty of Lebanon.
“Lebanon’s Coming Crisis” by Firas Maksad
WORLD NEWS: UN closer to Beirut tribunal decision
When a Dilettante Takes on Hizbullah By: Michael Young The Daily StarWe can thank the US speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for having informed Syrian President Bashar Assad, from Beirut, that "the road to solving Lebanon's problems passes through Damascus." Now, of course, all we need to do is remind Pelosi that the spirit and letter of successive United Nations Security Council resolutions, as well as Saudi and Egyptian efforts in recent weeks, have been destined to ensure precisely the opposite: that Syria end its meddling in Lebanese affairs.

Washington Institute How Long Can the Palestinian Unity Government Last?
ConflictsForum Hamas as a revolutionary movement

Mission Accomplished By: Michael C. Boyer Foreign Policy Everyone in Washington seemed to agree that the Iraq Study Group’s ideas for fixing Iraq were duds. So, four months after many pundits and politicians accused Baker and Hamilton of failing to think big, why are the White House and Capitol Hill rushing to implement the very recommendations of the ISG that they once dismissed?
IHT It could be the anti-Iraq NICHOLAS DUNGAN
The changing Iranian situation is a test of resolve for the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Heritage Iran emboldened: Tehran seeks to dominate Middle East politics
NRO THE EDITORS: By committing an act of war, Iran has simultaneously made itself look peaceful and made the West look impotent. “Tehran’s Victory”
Washington Post Editorial End of a Standoff Does Iran's seizure and release of British sailors demonstrate pragmatism -- or belligerence?
Financial Times Editorial Iran's calculated end to hostages drama
Newsweek Iran: Do Sailor Releases Signal a Nuke Thaw?
New York Times What We Can Learn From Britain About Iran
By VALI NASR and RAY TAKEYH Just as Iran will meet confrontation with confrontation, it will respond to what it perceives as flexibility with pragmatism.
Washington Post Tehran Likely to Pay Long-Term Price By Robin Wright
Leader A good ending to a bad business The real lesson to draw from Mr Ahmadinejad piece of political theatre is that quiet diplomacy does work and that it can work in the future.
Walid Phares Admedinijad's "Plan B" - The Circus Continues
Tony Karon There’s hostages, and there’s hostages
Admedinijad's "Plan B" - The Circus Continues
USS Nimitz Forced Iran’s Decision
Daily Telegraph We found a ladder for Iran to climb down There is a real opportunity with a change of Prime Minister to change perceptions and to improve our chances of helping to change Middle Eastern reality, writes former UK ambassador to Iran Richard Dalton.
They're free, but UK is humiliated
Relief at the freeing of the British sailors and Marines in Iran is tempered with dismay at the humiliation to which they and the country they serve have been subjected. It appears that the Royal Navy has a lot to answer for.
Iran's ploy buys time for nuclear weapons
Time Who Got the British Sailors Released?
Ha’aretz Oren Iran challenges Bush It is best for Iran to establish the context, the timing and the force of the clash with the West - a limited confrontation in the Gulf that could save it from a much bigger blow to its nuclear installations.
Independent Leading article: This may be a victory for old-fashioned diplomacy

Saudi conspiracy/ Shaul Rosenfeld
Wall Street Journal Saudi Balancing Act Besieged by Iran yet wary of the U.S., King Abdullah has one of the toughest jobs in the world. By KAREN ELLIOT HOUSE

Asia Times Condi's free ride in the Middle East US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has taken up "shuttle diplomacy'' in the Middle East with a new-found vigor, but unlike Henry Kissinger's efforts 30 years ago, Condi's is an empty pose while Saudi Arabia does the hard work. And Rice gets a free ride from the press to boot. - Tony Karon