What Is Dennis Kucinich Doing in Syria?

The anti-war congressman praised Assad in 2007 for pursuing peace

Update: Rep. Kucinich's office has issued a press release confirming that the congressman is "on a fact-finding mission to Syria and Lebanon" accompanied by a delegation that includes his wife, Elizabeth. The office explains that Kucinich was asked by his constituents, who include many Arab-Americans, to "investigate conditions on the ground in Syria" and seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict there, and that he'll meet with democracy activists, NGOs, small business owners, and civilians in addition to the Syrian and Lebanese presidents. "Peace is a conscious, active pursuit that requires work and communication," Kucinich is quoted as saying.

Earlier this morning, CNN's Hala Gorani, one of the few Western journalists who has been permitted entry to Damascus, issued a strange tweet: "Ran into Dennis Kucinich in another hotel. Told me he's on fact-finding mission. Met w Assad for 3 hrs yest. Wouldn't elaborate." What is the anti-war, anti-Libya campaign Ohio Democrat doing meeting with the head of a regime accused of killing over 1,300 people in its crackdown on anti-government protests?

The answer's proving rather elusive. The only report on the visit thus far comes from Syria's state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, which claims that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with a Kucinich-led delegation and British Conservative Party politician Brooks Newmark (the news has since been picked up by AFP/NOW Lebanon and a couple others). According to SANA, Assad emphasized the importance of distinguishing between the "legitimate demands" of protesters and the "organized armed groups" who are hijacking those demands to "create chaos and destabilize the country." Kucinich and Newmark, meanwhile, "expressed keenness on Syria's security and stability as an essential pillar in the region," according to the report. Does that language ring a bell to any Kucinich watchers out there? In fact, SANA quoted Kucinich as recognizing Syria's "pivotal role in bolstering security and stability in the region" during a visit with Assad back in 2007, when Kucinich was a presidential candidate. In this segment aired on Syrian state television at the time, Kucinich explained how Assad "showed a real desire to play a role in helping to create a peaceful settlement of the conditions in Iraq as well as a grander approach towards creating peace."

In fact, in an interview with the Cleveland Plain-Dealer in May,Kucinich used words that sound almost identical to Assad's to describe the Syrian uprising. While Syrian protesters are making legitimate demands for reform, he explained, some are trying to "capitalize on those legitimate demands for reform and use it to push a violent agenda." The violence is preventing Assad from rolling out democratic reforms, he noted, adding, "We also understand that there's very serious questions raised about the conduct of the Syrian police, but we also know the Syrian police were fired upon and that many police were murdered." We'll be reaching out to Kucinich's office for comment, and we'll let you know if we hear back.

Update: A look at the Plain-Dealer's archives reveals that Kucinich earned the ire of conservatives when he criticized the Iraq war on Syrian TV in 2007. Kucinich responded by turning to his supporters for campaign donations:

Today I am being attacked as a traitor and vilified for reaching out to people of the region, hearing their concerns and discussing those concerns openly in public forums. My campaign is in need of immediate financial assistance to respond to a right wing hate machine that went into over-drive on the 6th anniversary of 9/11, using my visit to Syria and Lebanon as red meat for their attack dogs. 

In our original post we stated that Kucinich wasn't depicted in any pictures of the meeting released by SANA, but in fact he appears to be in the one below, seated to the right of Assad: