Two eerily similar photographs appeared in the news last week, one of a young female British captive and another of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both adorned in Islamic-style headscarf. There is plenty of evidence that for her part the young British Marine in question was greatly coerced not only in her choice of headgear but in her “confession” of violating Iranian waters. For Speaker Pelosi, on the other hand, it is impossible to offer any excuse whatsoever.
Indeed, upon arrival in Damascus, Pelosi (along with fellow Democrat Tom Lantos) met at length with Bashar Assad, widely considered one of the world’s leading sponsors of international terrorism and assumed by many to be responsible for ordering the murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Was Ms Pelosi under the impression that it was necessary to don the headscarf under the circumstances of meeting with Arab heads of state? Was she intimidated by the brutal Syrian treatment of political opponents at home and abroad? Was she just trying to make a good impression? Or was there another, more subtle message being conveyed?
In fact, the message of Pelosi’s Syria trip came across loud and clear. Democrats in the House and Senate had just concluded their shameful ballot all but declaring defeat in Iraq. No military force can conduct a war under the burden of a deadline, and the idea of announcing a pullout in advance and, in one version of the bill, beginning the pullout immediately, puts our forces in terrible peril. It amounts to nothing less than a humiliating effort at appeasement—something like flying all the way to Damascus, and then to Riyahd, and donning the headscarf to meet with Arab leaders, even with those responsible for funding and facilitating terrorism. Something like arriving in Damascus filled with effusive expressions of “friendship” and “hope,” and bearing well-wishes from the Prime Minister of Israel—well wishes that, so it seems, were not authorized by the Israeli Prime Minister and that misconstrued the Israeli position. Does Ms Pelosi seriously believe that Israel intends to negotiate with an Arab leader who is still on record as favoring the destruction of Israel and who, it appears, continues to sponsor acts of terrorism on a daily basis? Maybe that headscarf interfered with the Speaker’s hearing. Didn’t she hear Syrian leader Assad’s repeated refusal to recognize the state of Israel?
It leaves one wondering just what’s going on beneath that headscarf. Pelosi’s stiff, spacey, vapid expression offers no clue, but her comments and those of Rep. Lantos while in Syria suggest a few things about her unauthorized “alternative” foreign policy.
Most important, perhaps, is the fact that her policy junket was intended to embarrass President Bush by suggesting that he had missed to true path to peace. That path, as the headscarf fashion statement makes totally apparent, points in the direction of appeasement. If we in the West would only be a bit more sensitive to the wishes of radical Islam, Pelosi seems to suggest, we might be able to arrive at a workable arrangement of détente. Then we could withdraw from Iraq, the Baathists or alQaeda or the Iranians could take over. They could run their terror-training camps, and we could ignore them, until they attack us again. And again, and again.
I don’t believe that peace in our time is worth it. Speaker Pelosi is urging a precipitous withdrawal from the Middle East that will embolden our most violent enemies to launch further attacks against the United States, against our allies in Europe, against Israel, and against those moderate Arab states who depend on our resolute support. As one oil-rich state after another falls into the hands of radicals like Syria’s Bashar Assad or President Ahmadinejad of Iran, Islamic fundamentalists will gain incredible power and influence.
Appeasement is a lot like hiding—hiding under the headscarf, for example. And it always seems to garner a good deal of popular support, that is, until it is too late. When that happens, we’ll see that the world is in far worse straits than anything we’ve seen in Iraq. Then it will be clear that it’s never a good idea to bow down to terrorists, even if your head is covered.
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