We'll Talk...But Only With Pelosi!

The Islamic Army in Iraq is a Sunni insurgency group that recently split with Al Qaeda in Iraq after the latter started threatening and killing its members. I'd say that would do it.

One of its leaders, Ibrahim al-Shammari, told Al Jazeera:

The Islamic Army in Iraq is one of several nationalist groups which opposes hitting Iraqi civilians, but it has carried out high-profile attacks against multinational forces.

Al-Shammari said they would be willing to deal with the Americans if certain conditions are met.

"We, the Islamic Army in Iraq, are ready to negotiate, but only with the US congress.

"They are the representatives of the American people, and the Iraqi resistance represents the Iraqi people. We are ready to establish a dialogue with them, not with the arrogant US administration."

Now, I'll grant you that if Nancy Pelosi hadn't visited Syria, Mr. Al-Shammri likely would have just used a different ploy to put his enemies off balance. But is it possible that other groups will start picking up on the rhetoric of trying to divide Bush and Congress?

Why not? The American people are chronically unhappy with the job Bush is doing, and most don't seem to mind Pelosi's trip. I'm not predicting this will become a serious problem, but could end up actually mattering as well.

I'm angry about the lack of subtlety and understanding in Bush's foreign policy too. But someone from Congress of Pelosi's stature and profile visiting Syria, which for the rest of the world clearly appears to be a dissent from her president's stated policy, creates more problems than it potentially solves.