Wolfowitz's second favorite Arab speaks: "That state fights for its life, but a secular Kurd of great civility and learning, Jalal Talabani, is the constitutional head of state, and a modest Shiite man who has risen from the depths of Iraqi society, Nouri al-Maliki, is the head of government." The first is a militia leader who aligned himself with Saddam for years and who triggered a Kurdish civil war, and the second is a fanatic leader of the sectarian fundamentalist organization, Ad-Daw`ah party.