Rice raises Border Concerns with Syria

The administration was forced to eat their own words in meeting the Syrians. After blasting Nancy Pelosi's visit to Demascus only weeks ago, the White House is talking to the "enemy." It finally dawned on King George that not talking to the Syrians was a childish and dangerous tactic:

In a diplomatic turning point for the Bush administration, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Thursday with Syria's foreign minister and expressed U.S. concerns about the country's porous border with Iraq.

All responsible parties had been calling for talks. Only this diplomatically challenged administration could have held out for so long when the world demanded the rapprochement:

The administration has resisted talks with Syria and Iran despite the recommendations of allies, the Iraq Study Group and U.S. lawmakers from both parties.

Sounds like talk from someone having eaten crow:

Only last month the White House blistered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a diplomatic trip to Damascus, and administration officials suggested afterward that Syrian President Bashar Assad had played the California Democrat for a fool.

"There's a difference in going to Damascus and having broad-scale discussions about a whole range of issues with Syria and that was the issue at the time," Rice said Thursday. "Having the secretary of state take an opportunity to speak to the foreign minister of Syria about a concrete problem involving Iraq, at an Iraqi neighbors conference, makes more sense."

Next stop - Iran:

The Iraqi government is pressing for talks between Rice and Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, saying Washington's conflict with the government in Tehran is fueling instability in Iraq.