Al-Maliki's Rhetoric

Some Democratic lawmakers are lambasting the Iraqi PM for criticizing Israel. Howard Dean has gone so far as to call him an anti-Semite.

I'm far from thrilled with Nouri al-Maliki's comments, but I think we have to keep two things in mind:

One, the Iraqis picked him as the head of their elected government, and he's not going to agree with the U.S. on everything.

Two, al-Maliki has his own domestic pressures to deal with as he tries to hold that government together, and chastising Israel may be the Baghdad version of playing to the base.

Here's what Dean said: "We don't need to spend $200 and $300 and $500 billion bringing democracy to Iraq to turn it over to people who believe that Israel doesn't have a right to defend itself and who refuse to condemn Hezbollah."

But that raises an interesting dilemma. If this bloody and costly war was about making democracy possible in the Middle East, as President Bush contends, then doesn't Iraq get to pick its own leaders? And if that's the case, how can we use their positions, however abhorrent, as an argument against the war? If al-Maliki suddenly took a pro-Israel stance, wouldn't much of his country view his as an American puppet?

I'm much more concerned about the Iraqi speaker objecting to the presence of U.S. troops that is, most likely, preventing utter anarchy in that country. If the duly elected leaders don't want us there, that strengthens the case of those who say we should pick up our marbles and leave rather than sacrificing more Americans in this sectarian violence.

OpinionJournal's James Taranto looks at the record:

"Well, what exactly did al-Maliki say? Here are some quotes:

"'We call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression.'

"'[Israel's] excessive use of force is to be condemned.'

"'What is happening is an operation of mass destruction and mass punishment and an operation using great force that Israel has--and Lebanon does not.'