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General David H. Petraeus
At the Change of Command ceremony last October, Defense
Secretary Robert Gates said that history “…will regard (Petraeus)
as one of our nation’s great battle captains. He is the
preeminent soldier, scholar, statesman of his generation
….”
When he entered the room, Petraeus was greeted by
prolonged applause from the more than 200 Kiwanis
members and guests. The continuous applause lasted for
more than five minutes. The only way he could get the
audience to resume their seats was to politely excuse
himself from the room.
After club president Biff Baker opened the meeting, Al
Karnavicius gave Petraeus an update on the Doorways
Scholarship program explaining that approximately 130
disadvantaged young people will now have the opportunity
to go to college. “We expect the number to increase
every year,” Karnavicius said.
Petraeus opened his remarks by saying, “I want to
commend you of the Kiwanis Club for all that you do to
serve disadvantaged children here in the local
community. Organizations like yours composed of
individuals dedicated to serving the people around them
and strengthening their communities, help keep our
country strong. I am grateful for the work that you
do.”
He said, “Our fundamental objective in Afghanistan
remains ensuring that transnational extremists are not
able to reestablish the sanctuaries that they enjoyed
there prior to the 9/11 attacks.
“Accomplishing this aim, however, requires … helping to
develop the Afghan security forces, reducing the illegal
narcotics industry that finances the insurgency,
fostering the growth of Afghan governance to help it
achieve legitimacy, creating basic economic opportunity
for Afghan citizens, and so on.”
When commenting on the situation in Pakistan, Petraeus
said, “Indeed, the Pakistani government, and now the
Pakistani people and clerics, seem increasingly to
understand the gravity and urgency of the threat. We
must do all that we can to help increase the capability
and capacity of (the Pakistani) forces to conduct
sustained counterinsurgency operations.”
The events concluded with the presentation of a Kiwanis
International plaque from the St. Petersburg, Florida,
Kiwanis Club. It was engraved: To Gen. David H.
Petraeus, USA, Thank you for your service to our country
and the rest of the Free World.”
They’re just words. Important words!
-- Dick Koch
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