Remarks for Ambassador Glazer
Reception for the Seventh and Eighth Cuscatlán Battalions
September 28, 2007

Good evening to everyone and welcome.

It's a great honor to greet you, and to recognize tonight the brave service of the members of the Cuscatlán Battalion.  During the last four years, El Salvador has sent nine rotations of courageous soldiers to form part of the Coalition Forces carrying out Operation Iraqi Freedom.  You represent two of those rotations of Salvadorans who left their homes and families behind to promote democracy in a country on the other side of the world.

As a result of your brave work, you have won the admiration and respect of the other Coalition Forces and the gratitude of the Iraqi people.  We appreciate the sacrifices you and your families have made, and we especially recognize the tremendous sacrifice of the families of the five Salvadoran soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq.

In the name of my government and of the people of the United States, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude for the support you have given us and for your enormous contribution to the reconstruction of Iraq.  You have honored your country in the eyes of the world.