Much of Maliki's support base is made up of people the US has or would easily call "terrorists".  The relationships between different ethnic groups and political factions are much more complicated in that region than here, and to insist that he issue all of his public statements along the lines of American definitions of "terrorists" in defiance of the sentiments of his constituents is unreasonable.  It's particularly absurd when you're holding him up to the United States Senate, in which many members voted on everything from the PATRIOT Act to the war based solely on domestic political considerations.

Just as a reminder, most liberals were outraged that Bush was asking European leaders to join the "Coalition of the Willing", precisely because he was asking them to ignore the wishes of their constituents.  Yet we're prepared to ask the same of Maliki, even when the stakes are so much higher for both him and us.