Neither astrologers, nor meteorologists offer encouraging forecasts to the United States this year. The latter predict at least nine major hurricanes in 2007. Foreign-political forecasts are just as disappointing as tensions mount in Iraq and Afghanistan, a crisis is unfolding around Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has wandered into a deadlock.

And on top of that, desperately struggling to bail itself out, the White House got “stabbed in the back” by its democratic opponents who had swept the U.S. Congress in the November 2006 election. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives and number three on the U.S. top officials’ list, had enough courage to visit Syria, a nation that is listed as a state sponsor of terror by the Bush administration.

Official diplomatic relations between Washington and Damascus have been practically non-existent since 2005, when Syria was believed to have a role in the assassination of Lebanese leaders, including that of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. In addition to that, Washington accuses Syria of supporting the radical Islamic movements Hamas and Hezbollah and of assisting foreign fighters who penetrate into Iraq and join the local militias.

Once aware of Pelosi’s plans to visit Damascus during her second Mideast tour this year, a White House spokeswoman was quick to describe it as a “really bad idea.” Rumor has it that President Bush personally called her on the phone to dissuade Pelosi from going to Damascus, but was dismissed. After that sources in George Bush’s team reported they had never seen the president so upset.

When Nancy Pelosi arrived in the Syrian capital wearing an elegant office suit and the CNN satellite channel showed her meeting with President Bashar Al Assad and tasting dates in an outdoor market in Damascus, the U.S. president made an official statement in Washington accusing the House Speaker of torpedoing the U.S. foreign policy. Her trip sends “mixed signals” suggesting that the rogue nation is part of the international mainstream when it is not, President Bush said.

But Pelosi, 66, is a far too seasoned political soldier to be unnerved by his rhetoric. She is convinced that the Republicans have flubbed the U.S. foreign politics, and congressional Democrats now have to try and make up for their blunders where possible, without waiting till the next presidential election to take over. They apparently see their takeover almost as a fait-accompli. Speaking of her visit to Damascus, Pelosi said the U.S. must now pool efforts with any nation which is not interested in prodding Iraq to chaos, including Syria.

In the talks with President Assad on Wednesday, the U.S. congress delegation raised a number of issues important for the United States. Speaker Pelosi relayed to Assad a message from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that Israel was ready for peace talks with Syria. She had met with Olmert two days before her visit to Damascus. Assad gave assurances that "he's ready to engage in negotiations for peace with Israel," Pelosi said. In her meeting with Assad, she also expressed concern about Syria's connections to Hamas, discussed the issue of militant fighters slipping across the Syrian border into Iraq, and called for reinforcing Syria’s role in the Palestinian settlement.

Alongside the talks with President Assad, Pelosi met in Damascus with Syria’s Vice President Farouq Al Shara and Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. Observers pointed out that the House speaker took on an unusual diplomatic role for her Mideast trip. Congressional Democrats have been taking a more assertive role in influencing U.S. domestic and foreign policies lately. Just like a hurricane, Nancy Pelosi is violently striking at George Bush’s battered political boat.

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs has insistently recommended launching a direct dialog with Damascus and Tehran earlier this year, in order to find solutions for the existing differences, to address the Iraq crisis and stabilize relations with Iran. The White House rejected the idea, so Nancy Pelosi decided to take the lead.

Observers in Washington say the scandal triggered by Pelosi’s visit to Damascus is yet another sign of the growing controversy over the further course of U.S. foreign policy, not only in Iraq or the Middle East, but on the international arena as a whole. In the run-up to the next presidential elections, with dramatic differences between the Republican and Democratic foreign-political priorities, it will hardly be possible to see a consolidated course in the U.S. foreign policy. The rest of the world will have to catch breath and wait till one or the other approach prevails.