Obama, Maliki visit Tomb of the Unknown

ELEANOR HALL: The US president is predicting that America and Iraq will have an equal sovereign relationship once US troops withdraw at the end of this year from the country they launched a "shock and awe" attack on in 2003.


Barack Obama made the comments at the White House overnight where he was hosting a meeting with the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.


President Obama opposed the war and the final withdrawal of US troops is a welcome milestone for him politically but the withdrawal of foreign troops is unlikely to make the future of the Iraqi government any more assured, as North America correspondent Jane Cowan reports.


After almost nine years at war it's a season of homecomings.


In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, pilot Chris Sager returned home to his wife and three children after multiple tours in Iraq.


CHILDREN: Daddy! (Crying) Oh my Gosh!


JANE COWAN: At the height of the surge in 2007 there were more than 170,000 US troops in Iraq.
About 6,000 now remain and all will be gone by the end of the month.


Violence has diminished significantly since then, but tension between Iraq's Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims and Kurds continues to restrain economic and political progress.


Iran has tried to expand its influence in Iraq, particularly among fellow Shi'ite Muslims, but U.S. officials say some of those efforts have backfired with fiercely nationalist Iraqis.


Obama and Maliki were each asked about the role of Iran. Washington and Tehran are engaged in what appears to be an escalating proxy war, and relations deteriorated further after the Iranians claimed on December 4 they had shot down a CIA drone spying on their country, and then put it on display.


Obama declined to comment on whether the loss of the drone would compromise U.S. intelligence, noting only "we have asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond."


Separately, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters aboard a military aircraft he did not expect to get it back "but I think it's important we make that request."


Maliki has irked Washington by failing to adopt the tough line other Arab League members have taken with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Some accuse his Shi'ite-led government of being too cozy with Iran.


But Maliki casts himself as a nationalist who will not bend to any outside power and Obama said he took him at his word:


"I believe him. And he has shown himself to be willing to make very tough decisions in the interests of Iraqi nationalism, even if they cause problems with his neighbor."


HOMECOMING TROOPS


The president and first lady Michelle Obama will travel to Fort Bragg to thank troops returning home from Iraq, keeping the spotlight on national security.


Alongside the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May, the closure of the Iraq war and drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan are seen by the White House as key Obama accomplishments that he can flourish before voters in the elections next November.


But Americans are much more focused on the country's fragile economic recovery and high unemployment than foreign policy.


The cost to the U.S. taxpayer for the Iraq war in military spending alone is over $700 billion, with troop forces peaking during Bush's 2007-surge above 170,000 troops.