9 Dcember 2007
The Prime Minister has announced that Basra will be handed back to Iraqi control within two weeks. Mr Brown mande the announcement in a suprise visit to troops in Iraq.
Read the full address
Can I say first of all what a real privilege it is to be here because I wanted to come today to thank you for everything that you have done, to thank you individually as I have gone round all the different people who are here from different areas of our country, and to thank you as a group. The reason why security is so much better here, the reason why things have improved, the reason why there is progress is because of you, because of what you have achieved, what you have done. And I want to thank all your leadership and I want to thank every single one of you for what is being done.
There are three things that you have shown over this last period of time. The first is your professionalism. Go anywhere in the world and people will talk about the professionalism of the British forces, second to none, renowned in every part of the world, and I want to congratulate you for the professionalism that is shown every day, every week, every month in what you do here.
And the second great quality you bring to bear is your courage, because I know from the stories I have heard from talking to people when I was here a few months ago, and when I was here a few months before that, the sheer bravery and the determination and the courage you show in difficult situations. And we know it has been difficult, difficult at Basra Palace, it was difficult when all the operations, the Telic operations, it was difficult, and many of you are back here having done these operations before and your bravery and your courage is something I want to thank you for. And that is why the British people are so proud of what you do. Winston Churchill once said that courage was the most important quality of all because if you don’t have courage nothing works, and you have shown great courage and great bravery and I am here today to thank all of you for what you have achieved.
And the third thing I want to thank you for is your dedication to our country, for your patriotism, for your commitment, for everything that you have achieved by the public service that you have done.
I have just talked a few minutes ago to Prime Minister Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq, and he asked me to pass on his thanks to you for what you have done to help rebuild the democracy of Iraq. And it is because of all the operations that we have done over these last few months, indeed over these last few years, and particularly in recent times, that the security situation has not only improved but he was able to tell me that he is now recommending that we move to provincial Iraqi control within two weeks so that the Iraqis can take far more responsibility for the security of the country. And as you know, many of you have been training up Iraqi security forces and many of you have trained up the armed forces, some here have been training the police. There are now 30,000 police and armed forces trained up as a result of our work and the work of other people. And so as a result of that we can move to provincial Iraqi control over the next few weeks.
And so the great venture that started, with all the difficulties we had to face, has caused casualties, and I pay tribute to those who have lost their lives and those who have been injured and to their families. We have managed now to get Iraq into a far better position, not that violence has ended, not that there is no security problem, not that it is safe in all the different areas in which you operate, but we are able to move to provincial Iraqi control and that is thanks to everything that you have achieved.
There are many people here who have been on special operations, there are many people who are in support services for our armed forces, as there are many people who are our armed forces. There are people from other countries here, and I thank you for your involvement in it. The last time I was here I was apologising to the Australians because England was about to beat Australia at rugby - and we did - and I think you saw the England team do well until we lost in the final, but it was a great exercise. And I thank all the different nationalities for everything that you have achieved.
We are incredibly proud of what you do. I know many of you will not be home at Christmas and will want to remain obviously in communication through internet, and email, and telephone with your loved ones, but I do appreciate, as the whole country does, the spirit of service that means that you are serving here the national interest at Christmas time.
Field Marshal Montgomery, who you will know from the history books was one of the great people in the Second World War, he said once to his troops, you remember that Field Marshal Montgomery when he was asked who were the three great Generals in history said the other two were Napoleon and Alexander the Great. So Field Marshal Montgomery asked his troops: "What is the most important thing you have?" he said to them. And he went round the troops and some said the kit, and that is important, some said the gun, some said all the equipment they had. Montgomery said to them: "No", he said, "the most important thing you have is you, your skill, your talent, your potential, everything that you contribute."
And that is the message that I bring to you today, the most important thing we have as a country, the most important contribution that can be made is what you make for the peace and prosperity of Iraq, to building a better future for this country, for showing that the world can look to Britain and Britain does the job when it is asked to do so.
So let me wish you a Happy Christmas, say you have achieved great things during the course of the year, pay tribute to your professionalism, to your courage, to your spirit of public service and your patriotism, and to wish all of you well in the new year ahead. Thank you for everything you do. The whole British people are proud of everything you have achieved and I am so grateful for everything you do. Thank you all very much.
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