Delegation members said that they sought to persuade Mr. Assad to distance himself from Iran, and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran has become Syria’s ally in the growing confrontation with the so-called quartet of moderate Arab states, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
From NYT
This is one of those moments where I have to take a deep breath and remind myself that loyalty to principles and intellectual honesty must come before any other loyalty. And with that in mind, I think it is a really terrible idea to have congress involved in foreign policy. That has always been the job of the executive. Why? Article 2, Sec 2 says so.
He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur;
Even if the executive is doing a bad job, it is still the job of the executive and not the job of the House. No matter how much I might dislike W’s handling of foreign policy, I respect the principles of separation of powers as described in the constitution far more.
So what they should the dems do? Bring Rice in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and ask her what she is doing about Syria. Appropriate money earmarked specially for diplomacy with Syria. Pass resolutions. And all the other things that congress is empowered by the constitution to do.
