Pelosi was wrong to fawn over Syria’s Assad
I am honored that S. Rex Cohen remembers my 2007 letter slamming Nancy Pelosi as a traitor. [“Of chutzpah and fairness,” Letters, Aug. 18]. Let’s review the context of my 2007 letter: In 2005-2007, the Bush administration was trying to isolate Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, believing him to be a sponsor of terrorism against Israel and American troops then stationed in Iraq. In a hyper-partisan and unpatriotic effort to undermine [George W.] Bush’s diplomacy and kowtow to the American far left, Pelosi rushed to Syria over the administration’s objections, sat down in a well-publicized meeting and photo-op with the dictator Assad and declared him to be a “reformer with whom we can work.”
This fawning display occurred at that time Assad was supplying bombs to Iraqi rebel forces that were being used to kill American troops. It was in that context that I called Pelosi’s actions treasonous.
Fast forward to 2016. Just as predicted by many observers, Bashar Assad was no “reformer,” having killed over a quarter-million of his own people with poisonous gas and barrel bombs.
He destabilized the Middle East and helped create ISIS, causing millions of refugees to flee to Europe. Europe is now destabilized because it cannot accommodate millions of unassimilable Muslims. Brexit is a result of this turmoil.
By Pelosi’s fawning support for the Syrian dictator in 2007, she and other useful idiots must accept direct responsibility for the humanitarian crisis now engulfing the Middle East and the world. Looking back, it is clear that Pelosi’s actions directly enabled the crimes of her new friend, the “reformer” Assad.
I do not regret my 2007 letter slamming Pelosi, but I hope she regrets her shameful support of a genocidal tyrant and mass murderer. As for Cohen, to him I have nothing to say.
GLENN M. TAUBMAN
Annandale
‘Never Trump’ is wrongheaded
Two proudly Jewish, conservative pundits, Charles Krauthammer and Mark Levin, and others who are also Jewish in the “Never Trump” movement seem to be doing their best to dampen enthusiasm and dissuade millions of conservatives from actively supporting Donald Trump [for president] (“Locals ponder ‘meshuganah election year,” Aug.4). They focus tirades on trade or how Trump expressed himself or any number of issues, but rarely on the security of the citizens of Israel. In this election, on one side we have a Democratic candidate who supported $140 billion being returned to a nation sworn to rid the world of Israel, not to mention Jews everywhere.
She enabled the mullahs to have a path, purportedly delayed, to nuclear weapons, the same mullahs who host Holocaust-denying festivals. Reports indicate she has self-hating Jews and pro-radical Muslim and pro-Palestinian advisers. She supported the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt which was in the process of abrogating the peace treaty with Israel when it was deposed. She likely sold sophisticated weapons to resistance fighters in Syria who turned out to be Islamic radicals.
Throughout her tenure as secretary, she filled her foundation’s accounts with billions from nations hostile to both Israel and the United States, with abysmal human rights records in exchange for policies which allowed for weapons sales.
On the other side we have a candidate who has strong pro-Israel advisers who have indicated that they will let Israel take the lead in determining its own path to peace.
Biblically, Moses said it was permissible to live outside of Israel as long as they actively supported their brothers and sisters in Israel. The same is true today.
The physical safety of the Jews in the land of Israel is the prerequisite. Krauthammer, Levin and others in the Never Trump movement seem to have forgotten their prime directive (“Star Trek”-speak).
GARY FRANKLIN
Potomac
