Rice Drops White House Claim That Iraqi Prime Minister Was Misquoted About Haditha

On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, was quoted saying the following about Haditha:

This is a phenomenon that has become common among many of the multinational forces. No respect for citizens, smashing civilian cars and killing on a suspicion or a hunch. It’s unacceptable.

On Friday, White House Press Secretary Snow insisted that Maliki was “misquoted.” Snow was unable to say exactly how he was misquoted, saying “it’s a little hazy to me.”

This morning on Fox News Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was asked about Maliki’s comments. Rice said she had talked to Maliki directly about his remarks but did not claim Maliki was misquoted. Instead, she said he was “speaking to the concerns of the Iraqi people.” Watch it:

We’ve posted the transcript here.