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Karzai in poignant visit to US military cemetery
AFP - Friday, May 14
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ARLINGTON, Virginia (AFP) - – Afghan President Hamid Karzai Thursday paid poignant tribute to US troops killed in his nation's war, walking through "the saddest acre in America" in the main US military cemetery.
Among tens of thousands of white gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, stretching as far as the eye can see, Karzai was brought face to face with the tragic cost of the fight against Taliban militants.
The visit was part of a four-day visit by the Afghan leader to his main ally, the United States, aimed at mending fences strained by recent, highly-public spats with the US administration.
Karzai visited the cemetery, where -- alongside beloved US presidents and politicians such as the Kennedy brothers -- thousands of soldiers fallen in US wars through the decades have been laid to rest.
Section 60, where Karzai stopped to pay tribute, has space for some 12,500 graves, but with burials taking place daily as the death toll mounts in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is almost two-thirds full.
Veterans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam have found their final resting place here, in what has been dubbed "the saddest acre in America."
But among them are also more recent casualties -- the 468 men and women killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom and 140 who have died in Operation Enduring Freedom, the Pentagon said.
Karzai was accompanied by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
He knelt briefly before a few of the graves, bending to touch some flower petals on one and caressing a stone on another.
He honored the memories of several war heroes, including Ross Andrew McGinnis, killed in Iraq in December 2006 and awarded the nation's highest military award -- the Medal of Honor -- for diving on a grenade so his fellow soldiers could escape an attack.
At the graveside of Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient Captain John Tinsley, Karzai studied photos of Afghan villagers taken at Firebase Cobra.
And the Afghan leader paid tribute to another Purple Heart and Bronze Star decorated soldier, Justin Ray Davis, also killed in Afghanistan.
A solemn Karzai appeared subdued by the occasion, and though his comments could not be heard the Afghan leader has repeatedly promised not to forget US contributions and sacrifices.
On Tuesday he met US troops severely wounded in Afghanistan, including a soldier who lost all his limbs, when he joined US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for a tour of Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital.
Karzai, who has come under US fire for corruption in his government, publicly told President Barack Obama, how hard that meeting had been.
"It was a very difficult moment for me, Mr President... It was heart-rendering," Karzai said at a joint press conference Wednesday.
"This shows the commitment that the United States has to bringing security to Afghanistan and by extension to the United States and the rest of the world," the Afghan leader said.
He also recalled "the difficult task that we have ahead of us in securing our future generations a better and more secure life."
In a bid to put behind them a series of angry spats, Karzai and Obama emerged from their White House talks with a vow to stand together and fight Al-Qaeda.
While acknowledging there had been a strain on the relationship, Obama insisted the flared tensions were "overstated," as Karzai staged an effusive show of support for US war goals.
"We are in a campaign against terrorism together, there are days that we are happy. There are days that we are not happy," said Karzai.
Obama also revealed how he felt personally responsible for every civilian casualty, in answer to Afghan criticisms of mounting civilian deaths.
"When there is a civilian casualty, that is not just a political problem for me," he said. "I am ultimately accountable... that is something that I have to carry with me... I don't want civilians killed."
The US military is gearing up to pour 30,000 extra troops into Afghanistan, aiming to defeat the Taliban and allow US forces to start coming home next year.
The Afghan leader is set to visit Fort Campbell, Kentucky, headquarters of the US Army's 101st Airborne Division, on Friday, weeks before the division deploys to his country.
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