Speeches
Speech at the Graduation Ceremony of the
Military Intelligence Basic Officer’s Course
February 6, 2009
VIP acknowledgements, dear students, chers invites,
It is an honor to join you today for this graduation ceremony marking the successful completion of the second Military Intelligence Basic Officers Course in Mali. The United States and Mali enjoy a deep and multi-faceted friendship, and it is a pleasure to see that our outstanding bilateral security cooperation has expanded into a growing regional partnership with the other countries represented in the room today.
The new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Rice, recently noted that “In facing the challenges of the scale that lie before us, all peoples and all nations should focus on what we have in common: our shared desires to live freely and securely in health with hope and opportunity. Those are the interests and aspirations of the American people, and they are shared by billions around the world.” These are the values that underlie the regional cooperation undertaken through the Trans Sahara Counterterrorism Program, which, through courses such as this one, aims to strengthen regional counterterrorism capabilities and enhance and institutionalize cooperation between your security forces and ours.
Events last year in Mauritania and Algeria, and the recent kidnappings of westerners in Niger, have provided sad reminders that terrorists and criminals can and are moving across borders in Africa to wreak havoc on local populations and to destabilize important development efforts underway in the region. We can and must work together to create a strong and united front against such criminals, not only with weapons, but also with our intelligence.
When I use the word intelligence, I refer not only to the military strategy of understanding the opponent, but also to the wisdom required for us to work together successfully. Our presence together today indicates a mutual understanding that the current international nature of crime and terrorism demand a coordinated response from all of our neighbors. United we can and will capitalize on each of our strengths to successfully defend against those who would do us harm. Your role in the field of intelligence provides an important foundation for all of our work in this regard, and I would encourage this cooperation to continue long after this course has ended.
My deepest thanks to our Malian hosts for their usual warm hospitality. Thanks also to the trainers who came from different countries to share their insights and to prove that we can successfully work together. I am particularly gratified to know that trainers from Mali and Tunisia further contributed to the success of this course, and I hope that each one of you will follow their fine examples by further disseminating the knowledge that you receive in these training sessions to other colleagues in your own countries. Please accept my congratulations for a job well done and my best wishes as you return to work to apply what you have learned.
Thank you.
