US: The enemy of my enemy, as the saying goes, is a truly wonderful chap, even if he had also been my enemy.
Back in 2003, after insurgent rockets missed the then deputy secretary of defence Paul Wolfowitz in Baghdad, Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt famously said: "We hope that next time the rockets will be more accurate and effective in getting rid of this virus and his like, who wreak corruption in Arab lands."
In early 2004, he noted: "We are all happy when US soldiers are killed [ in Iraq] week in and week out."
He said he felt "great joy" at the 2002 space shuttle disaster because an Israeli astronaut died in it.
He has also said that the real axis of evil is one of "oil and Jews", and called President Bush a "mad emperor".
"The oil axis is present in most of the US administration, beginning with its president, vice-president, and top advisers, including [ Condoleezza] Rice while the axis of Jews is present with Paul Wolfowitz."
Mr Jumblatt was denied a visa a couple of years ago on the grounds that he endorsed terrorism. But he's coming to town next week to meet his pals. Such as? Well, Condoleezza Rice, who visited him at his home in Lebanon last week, national security adviser Stephen Hadley and, yes, World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz.
On Capitol Hill, Mr Jumblatt, who is a member of the Lebanese parliament, is visiting senators Joseph Biden jnr, John Sununu and others.
How did this happen? Simple. Mr Jumblatt became anti-Syrian.
"It's strange for me to say it," he said, "but this process of change" to democracy "has started because of the American invasion of Iraq. I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting, eight million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world. The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it."
Jumblatt. A guy you can count on.