Jesse Jackson, Rick Warren, Nancy Pelosi, Jimmy Carter, Mike Wallace and more, have caused greater problems in the long run. Why? They send nations like Syria and Iran the message that the U.S. is divided in its support for the war on terror.

They will often return home and speak in glowing terms of rogue nations who really want our demise.

My frequent radio guest Brigitte Gabriel says, “Already, radio talk-show hosts in the Middle East and Arabic are making fun of our government saying that even the speaker of the House of the American government thinks that George Bush is stupid, and [that] they are here to represent the half of America who does not agree with the American aggression and wrongdoing in the Middle East.”

Gabriel grew up as a Maronite Christian among Muslims in Lebanon and understands the enemy better than most. Her book, “Because They Hate,” has soared in popularity and has opened the eyes of many skeptics.

We do not have a benign enemy even though some American leaders have talked with them and returned saying, “We can do business with them.”

Translation: The “appease disease” has struck again.

The U.S. has learned that negotiations with dictators do not produce any positive results in the Middle East, Gabriel contends. She says Pelosi and others, rather than meeting with al-Assad, should instead be meeting with American generals who served in the first Gulf War and the Iraq War and who know what strategies are effective for defeating America’s enemies in the Middle East.

The most recent visitor and self-declared diplomat, Nancy Pelosi, said this on her departure after visiting Syria’s Assad: “The talks were very productive and the road to Damascus is the road to peace.”

But a Syrian spokesman said flatly, “We are under no illusion that the Democrats (including Pelosi) have a different approach to the Middle East than the Bush administration.”

Bottom line: There is no negotiating with dictators and tyrants. They only understand force. They are likely doubled up in laughter that they snowed another American who had no business “doing business” with them in the first place.

In fact, the White House has been attempting to isolate Syria to pressure Damascus into distancing itself from sponsoring terrorist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.


Jan Markell is the founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries. For more information, visit her Web site www.olivetreeviews.org or call (763) 493-3010.