The decision of the Arab League yesterday not to allow the new Iraqi Governing Council a seat at its table is a reminder of why the league is held in such notoriety. It serves no useful purpose. Its main preoccupations are defending the corrupt Arab order, apologizing for terrorists, and issuing condescending or hostile statements with respect to America and Israel. The newly liberated Iraq will count itself lucky if it is excused from dealing with the league.

It is, nonetheless, illuminating that the tyrants, dictators, and royals of the Arab League have decided that what is probably the most representative governing body of any country in the current Arab universe doesn’t have a right to rub shoulders with them. Unlike the governments of the Arab League, the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council is representative and diverse, mirroring the broad range of ethnic and religious sects in the country. It includes 13 Shiite Muslims, five Kurds, five Sunnis, one Christian, and one Turkoman. Three of 25 are women. The group is not without its flaws, on which these columns have dilated in the past, but the Arab League could learn a thing or two from the group.

“The council is a start, but it should pave the way for a legitimate government that can be recognized,” is how the Associated Press quoted Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League. On the topic of legitimate governments, Mr. Moussa might want to examine his own group’s membership list. The Arab League’s 22 members aren’t exactly something to write home about. Excluding Iraq and the Palestinian Arabs, Freedom House rates 13 of 20 countries in the league as “not free,” the lowest possible rating. The other seven fall into the second-worst category, “partly free.” Not one falls into the “free” column with America and Israel.

Iraq’s Governing Council isn’t exactly falling all over itself to join the old boys club in the first place. The Arab League’s record of support for Saddam Hussein while he tortured and murdered his own people is enough for the Iraqis to want to keep their distance. Once Iraqis indeed do hold their first real elections and choose a government, they’ll make their own decision on whether to seek membership in the league. It would serve the cause of freedom were they to demur and leave the seat marked for Iraq permanently empty. It would be just desserts for an organization that has betrayed the Iraqi cause.