Foreign policy has isolated U.S., candidate Dodd says

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http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070412/NEWS09/704120394/-1/politics&lead=1

Foreign policy has isolated U.S., candidate Dodd says
He backs Nancy Pelosi's visit to Syria, pointing to past presidents' moves on improving ties with rival nations.

By THOMAS BEAUMONT
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

April 12, 2007


Democratic presidential candidate Christopher Dodd in Iowa on Wednesday defended House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria last week and said if he is elected, he would consider naming former President Clinton the top U.S. envoy to the Middle East.

"To criticize her for doing that was stunning to me," the Connecticut senator said of Pelosi's critics, including President Bush, after giving a foreign policy speech in Des Moines.

Imagine if President Nixon had not opened relations with China, Dodd said, "or even Ronald Reagan, during the years when he was highly critical of the evil empire, not sitting down and negotiating arms control issues with the former Soviet Union."

Dodd, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, said U.S. foreign policy during the Bush administration has isolated the country, largely because of its planning and conduct of the war in Iraq.

He promised he would enhance U.S. standing in the world if elected, in part through "bold engagement," including a renewed effort at negotiating peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

"It's going to be hard to do. But I'd be re-engaging again," Dodd said. "I'd ask Bill Clinton to go back to the region, to be there on a permanent basis for a while."

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