Speech
Remarks by Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli for the POW-MIA Provincial Seminar
Le Royal Hotel, Phnom Penh
August 14, 2006
General Saroeun, General Flowers, Mr. Lapresse, Provincial Governors and Police Chiefs, and other participants, on behalf of U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh I welcome you to the Provincial Governors Seminar. This is my first opportunity to participate in a POW-MIA conference since my arrival.
I am delighted to see all of the provincial governors and their police chiefs here today. Thank you for participating in this important seminar. During every phase of the operations in the provinces, Americans and Cambodians work side-by-side to achieve our goal: The fullest possible accounting of those Americans missing as a result of service to the nation’s past conflicts. Without the support of you, our Cambodian friends, our operations would be impossible. We, of the United States of America, individually and collectively, are deeply grateful for your outstanding support.
This seminar is an opportunity to take stock of what we as a group have accomplished, and it allows us to chart the course for future POW-MIA work in Cambodia. We are now down to the most difficult cases to resolve and time is short. Many witnesses have died and of those who remain, their memories are fading. We must find new ways to operate and new sources of information to finally bring these Americans home. I hope during these talks we have an opportunity to discuss specific ways we can resolve the cases of the remaining 54 Americans missing in Cambodia. I look forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions on how we can more closely work together in the future.
Finally, I wish to thank General Saroeun, Mr. Lapresse, and the other members of the Cambodian POW-MIA Committee. I am very pleased with the reports I have received from Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command and our POW/MIA researchers on the excellent cooperation members of the Cambodian POW-MIA Committee provide on a daily basis. Both during Joint Field Operations and during investigations with Stony Beach investigators in the Defense Attache Office, members of the Cambodian POW-MIA Committee display their commitment to supporting our operations, as well as the commitment of the Royal Cambodian Government. I want to thank the members of the Cambodian POW-MIA Committee for their continuing support.