`Ammar Al-Hakim in Beirut

I saw a press conference by this leader of the Badr Shi`ite sectarian militia in Beirut. He met with everybody there. But the press grilled him. He paid tributes and praised armed resistance against Israeli occupation. He even laid a wreath at the tomb of `Imad Mughniyyah. He may receive a number of lashes on his buttocks upon returning to Iraq. He said that there is no need to criticize the American occupation because 1) it is in the past--kid you not; 2) Bush and Rice admitted mistakes; 3) there are no more US military bases in Iraq--kid you not. He said that. For those who catalogue the crimes in the Middle East, especially the crimes against the Palestinian people: remember that this is a commander of a militia that terrorized and expelled the Palestinian population in Iraq. For that alone, and for the use of torture, and for serving as tools of occupation, this sectarian militia should not be forgiven.