President Bush’s decision to welcome Jordan’s king to the White House yesterday couldn’t have been more ill-timed, coming, as it did, the day after the people of Iraq stormed the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. The Iraqi protests erupted in the wake of reports that Jordanians had celebrated after a Jordanian suicide bomber killed 125 Iraqis at Hilla.

Mr. Bush didn’t make the situation any better when he reacted to a question about the terrorist organization known as Hezbollah with a comment that allowed the Associated Press to begin its story by saying, “President Bush on Tuesday left open the possibility that the militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah could be part of the political mainstream in Lebanon despite its terrorist past.”

Mr. Bush said, “We view Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, and I would hope that Hezbollah would prove that they’re not by laying down arms and not threatening peace.” Well, Hezbollah will have to do a lot more than that to “prove” that it isn’t a terrorist organization. It will have to somehow bring back to life the hundreds of Americans, Israelis, and Argentinian Jews that it has killed over the past 25 years.

It is embarrassing for Mr. Bush that it was a leading figure in the party that ran Senator Kerry for president, Senator Schumer, who had to put the facts about Hezbollah into sharp relief, issuing a statement saying, “Hezbollah has the blood of Americans on its hands and it is awfully difficult to forgive them so quickly, especially when they have not denounced terrorism.” It was a useful reminder.

When Mr. Bush allows the senior Democrat from New York to get to his right on counterterrorism policy, it is a good indicator that it is time to rethink the policy. Domestic American politics demand and justice dictates that Hezbollah will have to do more than just lay down its arms. It will have to turn over for trial and punishment all those who are guilty of murder. Mr. Bush says he opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants. Does he really support it for terrorist murderers?

The best way for Mr. Bush to respond here wouldn’t be with clarifying statements, either from his own mouth or from those of his aides. When it comes to Hezbollah, the time for statements is long past. The American government knows full well what Hezbollah is and, as Mr. Bush pointed out, has classified it as a terrorist organization for years. What’s needed is the capture or killing of the terrorists by America or its allies.