18 October 2004

(Says Coalition, Iraqi forces will repeat success of Afghan election in Iraq)

Secretary of State Colin Powell used the occasion of the National Italian American Foundation Dinner October 16 to thank Italy for its unwavering support in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"In all of these difficult months," Powell said, "never once has [Italian] Prime Minister Berlusconi or [Foreign Minister] Franco Frattini or anyone in the Italian Government blinked. Not once did they stand back and say maybe we better take another look. Not once. They've always been with us."

Powell called the recent election in Afghanistan "a triumph of the human spirit" and said it wouldn't have happened "had it not been for the leadership of the coalition, President Bush, Prime Minister Berlusconi, so many others."

The Secretary expressed confidence that coalition troops and Iraqi forces will be able to deal with the insurgency and make it possible for elections to take place next January. "The Iraqi people want the same choice for freedom, the same choice to pick their own leaders, that the Afghan people have, the Italian people have, the American people have, and we will not rest until they exercise that choice," he said.

Noting that a panel is studying the reorganization of the United Nations, including the expansion of the Security Council, Powell said that when the report is issued "and we see what it recommends and how large there might be in terms of an expansion of the Security Council, if any at all, you can be absolutely sure... that Italy will get every consideration. We don't forget our friends."

Following are excerpts from from Powell's remarks:
(begin excerpt)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
October 18, 2004

REMARKS
SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL AT THE NATIONAL ITALIAN AMERICAN FOUNDATION DINNER
October 16, 2004
Hilton Washington and Towers
Washington, D.C.
(9:59 p.m. EDT)

SECRETARY POWELL:

[...] Italians Americans have always had a deep sense of family, a deep sense of community, and NIAF [National Italian American Foundation] has done so much to extend your warm embrace beyond the Italian American community to the rest of the nation and to the rest of the world. Indeed, you have helped our nation extend its hand of friendship, its hand of hope, to people all across the globe.

And it is not surprising that one of the strongest, steadiest hands of friendship that has been extended right back to us belongs to Italy, our great NATO ally. We are so proud to be standing... We are so proud to be standing alongside Italy on the frontiers, the front lines, of freedom, whether it's the global war on terrorism and all the other places that you've heard about already this evening, where we are standing shoulder to shoulder: in the Balkans; in Iraq; in Afghanistan. Both of our nations have lost precious lives. Both of our nations have seen our citizens held hostage or killed by some of the world's most brutal terrorists. Through it all, we draw strength from one another. We draw strength from the shared conviction that our two countries are part of a noble mission. And in all of these difficult months, never once has Prime Minister [Silvio] Berlusconi or [Foreign Minister] Franco Frattini or anyone in the Italian Government blinked. Not once did they stand back and say maybe we better take another look. Not once. They've always been with us.

And I can assure Frank and I can assure the Minister, the Ambassador, that I am watching with great interest the report that will be forthcoming from the panel studying the reorganization of the UN; and when that report comes forward and we see what it recommends and how large there might be in terms of an expansion of the Security Council, if any at all, you can be absolutely sure, as Frank said, that Italy will get every consideration. We don't forget our friends.

We are all part of this historic effort to help bring the blessings of liberty and prosperity and peace to peoples who so desperately want a better life for their children.

Just last weekend, we saw a remarkable thing. Millions of Afghans, men and women, voted in the first democratic election in Afghanistan's 5,000-year history. It was a triumph of the human spirit. People said it wouldn't happen. People said that the Taliban and al-Qaida would keep people from voting. People said that the Afghan people weren't ready for this. And yet, as I sat in my home last weekend receiving reports, the reports were so encouraging. People were lining up at 3 o'clock in the morning outside of polling stations. The Taliban blew up a bridge, and the people came to the bridge and walked along the river till they found a place where they could cross that cold water to get to a polling station. They came in burkas, the women in burkas, fully covered up except for their hand coming out from the burka with their ballot in it, to vote for the first time. They would not be denied.

It wouldn't have happened had it not been for the leadership of the coalition, President Bush, Prime Minister Berlusconi, so many others.

Now we face another challenge in Iraq, preparing to hold its own historic elections next January. We face a difficult challenge. There is a deadly insurgency that's raging, a deadly insurgency fueled by leftovers from the old regime, terrorists who have come to make trouble. We expected this kind of difficulty. But I have every confidence in our coalition troops and in the Iraqi forces who are rapidly being built up to deal with this. And the one thing I have absolute confidence in is that the Iraqi people want the same choice for freedom, the same choice to pick their own leaders, that the Afghan people have, the Italian people have, the American people have, and we will not rest until they exercise that choice.

On behalf of President Bush, of course, on behalf of all of us here tonight, on behalf of all the American people, I want to express our heartfelt gratitude to Prime Minister Berlusconi, to the Italian people, to my colleague, Franco, for the service that they are performing around the world, for their sacrifice, and for being our steadfast partner in the cause of freedom. ...

(end excerpt)