Ray Mabus: President Saakashvili has been in Washington most of this week. He has met with the President he has met with the Vice President, he has met with all of our Congressional leadership. He’s met with the leadership across our government and it’s an indication of how close the ties are and the friendship is between the United States and Georgia. Our marines fight with and train with the battalion of Georgia in Afghanistan today. Georgia has the highest number of troops per capita in Afghanistan of any country on earth and they have suffered the highest percentage of casualties in Afghanistan of any group that’s there. The Georgian battalion and they will be heading another battalion this fall of great war fighters. They and our marines have become bonded in brotherhood of combat. The other thing that you should know about President Saakashvili and Georgia is that he leads. It is a fully democratic country and one of the most transparent countries, in terms of rule of law, in terms of ease of doing business, in terms of everything that they do. It is a real pleasure and distinct privilege for the United States Naval Academy President Saakashvili.
Mikheil Saakashvili: Thank you Mr. Secretary. It’s an incredible honor to be here on behalf of my nation. My nation is a country of 5 million people. It is a country of ancient warriors and one of the most ancient Christian countries in the world. The country that had to, through many centuries of its existence, fight for its place. That’s why we cherish our freedom, that’s why we cherish the people who have the same values, and above all the greatest nation on earth in the history of this world – the United States of America. America is not just a nation for us. It’s an idea. For small countries like Georgia, especially those whose freedom is threatened, there is only one great nation in the world to turn to – it is the United States. Not because it’s so strong, it is strong. Not because it has the most powerful military in the history of mankind, but I think primarily because it is a country that has like no other country, incorporated the idea of freedom, of the highest values, of the best of humanity. The Secretary mentioned that we are in Afghanistan with you. Indeed, I had the honor yesterday to see 3 officers at the Bethesda Hospital. One of them is Georgian, and two his fellow Americans. They were serving together in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. They were injured together there. And for me, it was an amazing thing to see the courage of these fighting men. The amazing spirit they have. You know they’ve lost body parts and they were talking about going back to active duty very fast. This is what this country is all about. This is what my country is all about. As long as we exist, we have hope; we will never give in to pessimism. We will never surrender our freedom. We will never forget that in 2008 we were besieged by the enemy which was far bigger, far more numerous, far better armed than my military. And that was the moment when the very existence of my country, my nation and its freedom was in mortal danger. And we will never forget that that was the moment when the US commander in chief of the US Navy started to move towards Georgia. The Sixth Fleet changed course towards our sea shores. We had an American humanitarian military operation underway; we had American planes landing at the tarmac of our international airport. And just when these orders were issued the assault on our capital, on our government and on our people was halted. These are the kinds of things that not only my generation will never forget but a thousand years from now will be remembered fondly by the people who will still be around, who will cherish what you have done. What your country has done for my defect country, for my region and the idea that freedom cannot be defected and freedom cannot be defeated. We are incredibly honored that our officers, our students are also attending this academy., There are all kinds of situations and whoever says America is in decline, America’s epoch is gone and America should give place to the others, I don’t know any other country in the history of the world, which would come close to what America stands for. You don’t only have allies in the Georgian government. I represent the Georgian government. My people are your allies, my people are willing to fight together with you, my people are willing work hand in hand in cherishing freedom and protecting values we all stand for in my part of the world. We are a small nation but a very proud one. Some of our representatives did fight for America. Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – General Shalikashvili was a Georgian officer. We had a number of other officers that served under US flags that were originally from Georgia because for them, freedom of America gave way to freedom of our country. The future of America was allied with their own nation. That’s what I meant about the idea of America and no matter who says what, Americas best days are ahead of us, freedom and the world’s best days are ahead of us. So again, Mr. Secretary I would once again like to thank you for this incredible honor to see these amazing men and women of whom not only you can be proud of, but of whom the world is proud. To see our students here of whom we are proud of and you will be proud of one day because they attend this academy and we have a common future, we have a common fight and we will always prevail together. Thank you.