Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Rep. Rahm Emanuel are leading a drive to pressure House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert to cancel Wednesday's address to Congress by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki because he condemned Israeli attacks on Lebanon -- putting him at odds with U.S. policy.


Emanuel and Schakowsky, both Illinois Democrats with party leadership positions, were circulating a letter Monday among colleagues stating "with mounting evidence that the Iraqi leadership's goals are not in the best interests of the United States -- nor the Middle East -- Prime Minister Maliki's address is inappropriate.

"We are unaware of any prior instance where a world leader who actively worked against the interests of the United States was afforded such an honor.''

The visit of al-Maliki comes as violence in Israel and Lebanon, triggered by Hezbollah's kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in Israel, has overshadowed the ongoing bloodshed in Iraq and made a complex situation even more complicated.

The Bush White House, in standing with Israel, is not calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah for two reasons: It would leave Hezbollah with missiles to launch another day and Hezbollah would continue to undermine the fragile government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

Schakowsky and Emanuel drafted their letter after the New York Times ran a story last week quoting al-Maliki stating that "we call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression."

The protests of Schakowsky and Emanuel to Hastert, an Illinois Republican, come in a larger Mideast context -- growing concern about Iranian threats and the U.S. support of a fledgling Iraqi government, supported by the Bush White House, that is anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic.

Last week Schakowsky, along with Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican, circulated among their colleagues a letter to Bush asking him to denounce Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani after he accused Jews of masterminding killings in Iraq carried out by Sunni or Shiite insurgents.

A July 13 Associated Press story quoted al-Mashhadani stating "These acts are not the work of Iraqis. I am sure that he who does this is a Jew and the son of a Jew."

The remarks are false and contemptible.

President Bush meets with al-Maliki today in the Oval Office, followed by a news conference.

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