Dems whack Iraqi PM for not standing up for Israel

Posted by Joshua Holland at 9:56 AM on July 26, 2006.

Has the world gone completely insane?

It looks that way to me. Consider these two stories.

First, this from Reuters:

U.S. congressional Democrats expressed alarm on Tuesday over Iraq's denunciation of Israel in the Middle East conflict, and some said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's address to Congress should be canceled unless he apologizes.

A group of about 20 House of Representatives Democrats sent a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert urging the Illinois Republican to secure an apology from Maliki or cancel the address on Wednesday to a joint meeting of Congress. Some said they planned to boycott the speech.[…]

Iraq's U.S.-backed government denounced Israel's raids on Lebanon and Gaza. Maliki last week called for "the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression."

Several lawmakers said they would press Maliki for his view on the Middle East conflict in meetings before the prime minister makes his address, which is intended to try to reassure lawmakers that U.S. lives and money have not been squandered on a country descending into civil war. […]

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said unless Maliki "disavows his critical comments of Israel and condemns terrorism, it is inappropriate to honor him with a joint meeting of Congress."

Most Republicans said Democrats were making unrealistic demands, and said Congress should support the struggling leader as Iraq faces mounting sectarian violence.

"For him to take a strong stance that's perceived as pro-Israel where he's from is very difficult," Kansas Republican Sen. Sam Brownback said.

Senate Republican Whip Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called the Democrats' statements "an insult to a duly-elected leader."

Conservative national security allies of President Bush are in revolt against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying that she is incompetent and has reversed the administration’s national security and foreign policy agenda.

The conservatives, who include Newt Gingrich, Richard Perle and leading current and former members of the Pentagon and National Security Council, have urged the president to transfer Miss Rice out of the State Department ...

The criticism of Miss Rice has been intense and comes from a range of Republican loyalists, including current and former aides in the Defense Department and the office of Vice President Dick Cheney. They have warned that Iran has been exploiting Miss Rice's inexperience and incompetence to accelerate its nuclear weapons program. They expect a collapse of her policy over the next few months.

"We are sending signals today that no matter how much you provoke us, no matter how viciously you describe things in public, no matter how many things you're doing with missiles and nuclear weapons, the most you'll get out of us is talk," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said. […]

A leading public critic of Miss Rice has been Richard Perle, a former chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board and regarded as close to Mr. Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Mr. Perle, pointing to the effort by the State Department to undermine the Reagan administration’s policy toward the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, has accused Miss Rice of succumbing to a long-time State Department agenda of meaningless agreements meant to appease enemies of the United States.

Joshua Holland is a staff writer at Alternet and a regular contributor to The Gadflyer.