WaPo Edit Page Says White House Outreach To Syria Might Work -- After Blasting Pelosi For Same Thing

November 28, 2007 -- 5:27 PM EST // //

This is pretty striking, even by Fred Hiatt's ever plummeting standards.

As you may recall, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last spring, The Washington Post editorial page was the leading institutional editorial voice against it. The paper published a widely discussed editorial, called "Pratfall in Damascus," that helped set the tone for much mainstream criticism.

The editorial blasted Pelosi for thinking that anything good could come of talking to Syria, calling the idea "ludicrous" and opining: "As any diplomat with knowledge of the region could have told Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Assad is a corrupt thug whose overriding priority at the moment is not peace..."