"Iraqi Prime Minister's Maliki's criticism of Israel's right to defend itself is unacceptable," Pelosi said in a statement.
"At the White House this morning, Mr. Maliki did not retreat from his comments on Israel and once again failed to criticize Hamas and Hezbollah's terrorist activities.
"Unless Mr. Maliki disavows his critical comments of Israel and condemns terrorism, it is inappropriate to honor him with a joint meeting of Congress."
Oh my. Now what brought that on?
Here's what he said during Tuesday's press conference:
I also discussed with the President the issue of Lebanon in all seriousness, in a way that matches the importance of the size of destruction that happened to the Lebanese people as a result of the military air and ground attacks. And I also emphasized the importance of immediate cease-fire, and call on the international community to support the Lebanese government and support the Lebanese people to overcome the damage and destruction that happened.
[...]
Q -- you had a frank exchange on the Middle East. How can you get Arab nations to apply pressure to stop the fighting in the Middle East, if allies like the Prime Minister won't condemn Hezbollah?
And, Mr. Prime Minister, what, exactly is your position on Hezbollah? Thank you.
BUSH:(blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda)
PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: Thank you. Here, actually we're talking about the suffering of a people in a country. And we are not in the process of reviewing one issue or another, or any government position. The important thing here is what we are trying to do is to stop the killing and the destruction, and then we leave the room and the way for the international and diplomatic efforts and international organization to play the role to be there.
We are not here facing a situation only in Lebanon, but would be facing a variety of issues in different countries. I'm talking here about the approach that should be used in order to stop this process of promoting hatred, that has to be superior decisions coming from above in order to protect these experiments, particularly the democratic experiments that should be protected by those who are trying to oppose it.
...
Ironically, Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert told the Democrats that he will not cancel the Prime Minister's invitation to speak and called for bi-partisan support for his right to do so. (Has the world turned upside down today or what?)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said at a Capitol Hill news conference, "Unfortunately, it has become clear that the new government in Iraq, which came to power with the blessing of the Bush administration, does not share the same foreign-policy goals of the United States when it comes to the Middle East.
Shorter Schakowsky: 'Tell the puppet to obey, damnit! What does he think he is? The leader of a sovereign country??'
Congressional Democrats in both the House and Senate expressed outrage that al-Maliki singled out Israel in comments he made in Iraq, saying, "I condemn these aggressions and call on the Arab League foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo to take quick action to stop these aggressions. We call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression."
The Iraqi parliament also approved a statement rebuking Israel for "criminal aggression."
Good for them. Wake up Democrats. You've backed yourselves into a very lonely corner in the world.
Update: Arianna Huffington tows the party line and asks, 'Maliki's Testy Visit: Is This What Our Troops Are Dying For?' Arianna, that's what you get when the people in a democracy use their stained purple fingers to actually elect a government. What? You're disappointed he's not acting like a puppet too? Apparently, Arianna joins with those who are now demanding satisfaction for the tax dollars her government spent in Iraq (killing how many tens of thousands of Iraqis again?) by asserting that their leader act like an American Democrat (or Republican). It's practically impossible to tell them apart when it comes to their friend, Israel. 'Freedom (of speech) is on the march into the abyss' for Maliki. If Democrats want a puppet, the next time they're in charge of the country, they can start their own war and install/buy one who they think will cooperate with their agenda. Until then, suck it up.
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