Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was seen roaming the streets of Damascus flaunting a Hijab.

A Hijab is NOT a confirmation of the rights of women in the Middle East but rather a symbol of their suppression.

Had Speaker Pelosi worn the Hijab inside a Mosque, this would have indicated respect but for Pelosi to wear it on the streets of Damascus

Pelosi just reversed the work of the Syrian civil society and those who aspire for women's freedom in the Muslim countries many years back with her visual statement. Her lack of experience of the Middle East is showing.

Assad could not have been happier because Syrian women, seeing a US official confirming what their husbands, the Imams in the Mosques tell them, and the society at large imposes on them through peer pressure will see in her wearing a Hijab as a confirmation of the societal pressures they are constantly under.

The damage Speaker Pelosi is causing with her visit to Syria will be felt for many years to come.