Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, seen attending a recent meeting with tribal leaders in Baghdad, will visit the U.S. this week. Ali al-Saadi / AFP/Getty ImagesFrom L.A. Times:
Prime Minister Nouri Maliki will visit the graves of American troops to offer a personal 'thank you' to those who gave their lives for the sake of a new Iraq.
Reporting from Baghdad -- It's a gesture that couldn't have been made while U.S. forces were breaking down the doors of Iraqi homes and detaining residents by the thousands. Or when civilians were being killed by frightened American soldiers in sometimes careless shootings that have claimed an untold number of Iraqi lives.
But U.S. troops have now departed almost completely from the streets of Iraq's cities, and Prime Minister Nouri Maliki plans to visit the graves of American soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery during a trip to Washington this week and to offer a personal "thank you" to the men and women who gave their lives for the sake of a new Iraq.
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My Comment: There is nothing to be gained by Maliki in visiting Arlington Cemetery .... he is doing it because it is the right thing to do.