Someone Tell Nancy Pelosi, The British Hostage Crisis Is OUR Crisis

Do You Really Want Nancy Pelosi Leading The US?

The Senate on Thursday, before adjourning for its one-week break, passed a resolution condemning the Mad Mullah's kidnapping of 15 British sailors and marines from HMS Cornwall "in the strongest possible terms" and calling for the sailors "immediate, safe and unconditional release." That was an appropriate response.

But what of Nancy Pelosi and the House of Representatives? A measure was indeed offered, but Pelosi refused to allow it to come to the floor for a vote despite personal appeals from Republican House members (see here). This decision by Pelosi and company was explained today:

Pelosi's spokesman Brendan Daly said the speaker was reluctant to weigh in on the incident without knowing that such a message would do more good than harm. Daly said the British government had not asked Congress to try to pressure Tehran.

"The leadership discussed it and agreed that inserting Congress into an international crisis while ongoing would not be helpful," Daly said.

More harm then good? You have got to be kidding. Is standing up to Iranian provocation by simply speaking out against it going to do harm? No, there is more going on here. While a Resolution condemning Iranian actions is symbolic and of no practical effect, Pelosi’s refusing to allow such a resolution to be heard on the floor of the House has significant practical effect. The message is clear. The Democrats in control of the House will not support our allies, nor will they support anything that might lead to retaliation against the Iranians, regardless of the provocation. She just handed the Iranians a free pass - for this act of provocation as well as for their continued meddling in Iraq. I am sure that message is being heard loud and clear in Terhan.

Let there be no doubt. Pelosi is keeping her eye on the prize – Democratic political gains in Congress and the Presidency - and all else is meaningless to her. She will fight tooth and nail to prevent the use of force against Iran for any reason, just as she is fighting to see us out of Iraq while the going is still tough, before Petraeus’ surge has any chance of succeeding. She is banking on the anti-war left in America carrying the day and insuring long term partisan political gain. This refusal to even condemn the Iranian actions is simply one more manifestation of that strategy.

Pelosi’s spokesman's assertion that this is “AN’ international crisis is both craven and false. This is “OUR” crisis – not just the Brits. There is no doubt that this act of Iranian aggression is aimed at the US and the UK, even though it was only the UK that was targeted. See here and here.

Pelosi’s refusal to acknowledge that this is a crisis shared by the US is simply more of the same type of dissembling she regularly engages in for partisan political purposes. On the day that the House passed HR 1591, legislating retreat from Iraq on a date certain, Pelosi claimed in a speech before the House that the war in Iraq was “not related to the war on terror.”

This is sheer lying to the American public. It is not spin. It is not opinion. It is a lie. It contradicts every pronouncement from bin Laden and Zarqawi since 2002 that Iraq is the central battle for al Qaeda. It ignores the reality that we are fighting al Qaeda in Iraq. It shuts off any assessment of the likely ramifications that will arise from leaving Iraq without a functioning democracy.

I have posted on this insanity before, see here, and Charles Krauthammer has weighed in on the subject today. See here.

This is all just par for the course for Nancy Pelosi and company. Pelosi’s refusal to allow the resolution condemning the Iranian kidnapping of 15 of Her Majesty’s sailors and marines is a scandal. It needs to be portrayed as such by all people more concerned about our national security then they are about partisan political gain.