Why Nancy Pelosi is a Fool

Nancy Pelosi is a fool.  She does not understand that as Speaker of the House, she has little if any role to play in foreign relations.  Yet, she continues to interfere in foreign relations that cost lives, prestige, and allies for the United States.  And now she might just kick off a little war.

First there was the little visit to Syria, giving a boost to Bashir Al-Asad, as she kowtowed before a murdering dictator bent on killing any and all pro-Western Lebanese government officials.  And if you are a US Marine, do not forget that Bashir's father was the prime enabler of Hezbollah-- the same group that killed 241 of your brothers at the Marine Barracks in Beiruit.

Of course, Bashir continues that support today, as Hezbollah is allowed to run rampant throughout Syrian-controlled Lebanon, even to the point where it can fire missiles into the villages of Northern Israel with impunity.

Next, there was a letter to the ambassador of Costa Rica just nine days before an important national referendum.  The goal of the letter?  Undermine support for CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Agreement) and provide support for the opponents of CAFTA in Costa Rica.

And now, there is Adam Schiff's resolution in the House of Representatives declaring that the forced relocation (and resorting deaths of 1.5 million) Armenians as a genocide.  Was it a genocide?  Many think so. Many serious historians -- inlcuding Bernard Lewis -- do not think it was.

It may well be -- although if it was, then we need to similarly declare the forced relocation of Native Americans as genocide as well.  Why?  Because that part of history is much more akin to what happened in the Ottoman Empire than what Hitler did to the Jews in Europe.  There is a real debate on whether the death of 1 million Armenians was a deliberate effort with formal orders (like Heydrich's "Final Solution" after the Wannsee conference) or the result of incompetent military leadership in the Ottoman Empire.

That's right... this episode of crimes against humanity was carried out by an empire that no longer exists during a war that empire lost.

Was the episode horrific?  Yes.  Was the episode a crime against humanity?  Yes.  Are the Turks responsible for what happened 92 years ago?  No.  No one involved is still alive.

What are the repercussions?  Well, the Turkish ambassador has been recalled.  Turkey is threatening to cut off the use of their air bases and roads to resupply troops in Iraq.  Finally, the Turkish Army is massing troops for an invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan right at this minute.

Do you think the events are unconnected?  If you do, then you are a complete moron.  Turkey is flexing its muscle as the eastern edge of NATO to make the point that it should not be held accountable for the Armenian genocide.

It should also be noted that, according to Charles Krauthammer, even the Aremnian patriarch in Istanbul -- Mesrob Mutafyan -- calls the resolution foolish.

Appropriate, since Nancy Pelosi is a fool.  And she is foolishly picking a fight with a NATO ally that doesn't need to be fought.  Which means that her real goal is probably to undermine the American effort in Iraq.  That's right.  The Democrats cannot win the argument against the war on the merits, so they have decided to up the anty and place the lives of American soldiers at risk to score political points.

It is the same strategy that worked in 1973-1975, as the Democrats and their Stalinist allies sacrificed South Vietnam to score political points at home.

We all remember how foolish that was.