Back in January, in Jews, Muslims, and the Democrats, I pointed to the emergence of a Muslim-Left caucus composed of about 40 to 50 congressmen within the Democratic party who, “in varying degrees of intensity, have felt free to express an uninhibited hostility toward the Jewish state.”

My analysis provoked a sharp rebuke from Ira N. Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, who accused me of “cherry-picking facts, inflating their importance, adding half-truths, and scrupulously avoiding evidence that contradicts [my] thesis.” I answered Forman here (scroll down past the other letters to find my reply).

But now, as if on cue, comes Nancy Pelosi’s pilgrimage to Damascus, demonstrating another way in which some ranking Democrats are being cavalier about Israel’s–and America’s–security. Against the wishes of the Bush administration, in a visit filled with photo-ops, the Speaker has journeyed to the Middle East to jump-start “peace talks” between Israel and Syria.

Pelosi’s credulous announcement in Damascus that President Bashar al-Assad was “ready to engage in peace talks” with Israel was one of several gifts she bestowed on the Syrian strongman. His empty utterance, which moved things not even a camel hair from his intransigent hardline stance, was offered up as a diplomatic breakthrough, presenting a terror-supporting dictator as a beacon of friendship and good will.

But peace has not broken out as a result of this exercise in congressional meddling. Even the liberal Washington Post ran a scathing editorial today, calling Pelosi’s venture “foolish,” and her statements in support of it “ludicrous.”

In my article I spoke of a slow-motion collision between the interests of American Jews and the present disposition of the Democratic party. If Pelosi’s foray into Middle East diplomacy is a sign of things to come, my analysis was on target but my timetable was significantly off.

To find out what former President Jimmy Carter thinks about all this, click here.

To find out what President Bashar al-Assad thinks about all this, click here.