Iraq is an ally in war on terror

NY Times:

Addressing a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq described his country as the “front line” in the fight against terrorism and vowed to make Iraq an “active player” in the security and stability of the Middle East.

“Iraqis are your allies in the war on terror,” Mr. Maliki declared, prompting a standing ovation from a full chamber.

But there was also evidence of some friction between American lawmakers and Mr. Maliki over the war in Lebanon and what some Democrats said was the overly optimistic tone of his remarks on Iraq.

In his half-hour speech, the prime minister made little mention of the casualties in Iraq. Instead, he highlighted the doubling of the gross domestic product over the last three years and improvements in the lives of Iraqis. And he appealed for more financial aid for fledgling Iraqi companies, saying that much of the enormous American and foreign investment in his country had gone to pay for security companies.

Democrats complained that Mr. Maliki’s remarks had oversimplified the situation in Iraq by ignoring the mounting death toll on Iraqis and Americans alike, as well as the recent surge in sectarian conflict and the increasingly dangerous situation in Baghdad, where President Bush and Mr. Maliki on Tuesday said they would send additional troops.

“The prime minister was speaking in the style more of the president of the Baghdad Chamber of Commerce than the prime minister of Iraq,” said Senator Jack Reed, the Rhode Island Democrat who last month was a sponsor of a resolution calling for United States troops to begin leaving Iraq by the end of the year.

Earlier, in a breakfast with Congressional leaders, Mr. Maliki, who is a Shiite Muslim, bristled at repeated requests to denounce the militant Shiite group Hezbollah, and when pressed would say only that he condemned terrorism around the world. He also rebuffed calls from some Democrats for him to renounce his condemnation of Israel for its attacks in Lebanon.

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The Democrats are disengenious in asking Maliki to denounce Hezballah when they have members of their own party who refuse to vote for a resolution denouncing Hezballah. They should also quit trying to treat the Prime Minister of Iraq like a puppet. Instead of insisting on a denounciation they should have engaged him on the subject and stated the reason wht Hezballah should be destroyed.