Kerry without grace

Kerry, in his desperation to revive his campaign, brusquely dismissed statements made by Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi on Capitol Hill: "I think the prime minister is, obviously, contradicting his own statement of a few days ago, where he said the terrorists are pouring into the country. The prime minister and the president are here, obviously, to put their best face on the policy."

Kerry is, naturally, out of context. What Allawi said was:

"Foreign terrorists are still pouring in, and they're trying to inflict damage on Iraq to undermine Iraq and to undermine the process, democratic process in Iraq, and, indeed, this is their last stand," "So they are putting a very severe fight on Iraq. We are winning. We will continue to win. We are going to prevail."

In front of Congress Allawi was forthright, optimistic (with examples) and graciously thanked the United States. Read it here. He also issued a warning that Kerry would do well to heed:

We Iraqis are aware how international this effort truly is. But our opponents, the terrorists, also understand all too well that this is an international effort. And that's why they have targeted members of the coalition. I know the pain this causes. I know it is difficult but the coalition must stand firm. When governments negotiate with terrorists, everyone in the free world suffers. When political leaders sound the siren of defeatism in the face of terrorism, it only encourage more violence. [emphasis added.] Working together, we will defeat the killers, and we will do this by refusing to bargain about our most fundamental principles.