This is the first time I am giving a speech at a temple. Please excuse me if I make any mistakes. Dharmasiri thero gave a good description about the situation of the country, about what happened and about what should happen in the future. Last time I came to America we made a promise that we would finish the war within a year, in 2009. There are some people who are here today who were there then. I am happy to say that in July / May this year we were able to achieve this promise. The promise was that we would defeat terrorism and create a secure future for future generations. We had to work had and with a lot of dedication. It was not an easy victory, we work very hard and made a lot of sacrifices, we had to be very courageous and determined to achieve our victory.

Some Sri Lankan people think that it was an easily achieved victory. Like the Chief Monk tried to explain, a lot of people tried to divide this victory amongst themselves, they talk about the war victory, but it is only those involved in the battle itself who really knows the challenges we had to surmount to achieve this victory. Especially the army, although we are respecting all three forces now, if I do not mention the sacrifices made by the Army, I would be neglecting my duties. 5200 soldiers of the Army died and 28000 were injured to achieve this victory. For this sacrifice, as a officer who gave orders, I am indebted to these individuals who were in the Army. If these individuals in the Army had not made these sacrifices we would never have achieved victory. I always bestow this honor upon them whenever I give a speech. During this period about 100,000 people joined the army. If these people had not joined the army during this period, we would not have even gone past Vavuniya. The respect and aid / cooperation given by the people, it was due to the blessings and aid given by the people that resulted in that number of people joining us. From this number of cadets about 80,000 are still with us, about 20,000 left without holidays. If it wasn’t for the soldiers that joined us and the people that helped us, no matter how talented a General you are or how talented a politician you are, without this strength we might have not achieved this victory. However, even before this there was a need for people to join the army but not even 3000 people a year joined the army. In this situation about 40000 soldiers a year joined the army. We think that this is also a victory for us. We should not think that due to the death of Prabhakaran everything is complete and we can live happily. In the beginning there was no Prabhakaran, he was created 30 years ago. I believe that if Sri Lankan’s forget this beginning, if Sri Lankan’s forget the sadness that we faced in the last 30 years, the situation that we faced, the struggle and the sacrifices to overcome this situation then it is sure that, even if this generation does not, maybe the next generation will once again meet Prabhakaran. For this reason, like the Chief Priest said, we must be united in this instance. We must protect this unity. To stay united we must all work genuinely, from every area / section we must look at this question and work fairly towards this. If we work this we, we can keep on protecting this country.

Nevertheless, even now people, some people in Colombo have forgotten the value of the army. There are some people who say that what the army did, happened through luck, was like winning a sweep ticket / lottery. These people are in charge of certain responsibilities in the country. In the future, if these people understand how hard it was to get what we got and how many sacrifices we made, only then will we be able to reap the benefits / results of the victory.

We will always do our future duties. Generals in uniform cannot remain in the army forever. I have stayed 4 years beyond my retirement in the army. I do not think that the things to be done in the country are completed. Just because Prabhakaran was killed the security of the country has not been guaranteed 100%.

We must resettle the displaced people. We must deploy enough troops to provide security for these areas. We must in these areas, this virus, there are still 1000’s of terrorists in IDP camps. We must identify these terrorist and destroy them. We must take them into custody and then resettle them. We must provide security in strength to these areas. I will only be happy that we finished the war we ended when I see this. Hence, we must go towards this objective.

Especially, for people like me, will have to remove this uniform. We cannot wear this uniform forever through our entire lifespan. Even if this happens, we, I, will not back down from taking the steps that needed to be taken to protect the country.

For the development of the country, for the security of the country if there are any steps that need to be taken, I believe that it is our duty as citizens to take these steps. It is important to pay attention to what will happen in the future rather then spend our days living in a joyful happy mindset. With such hopes, taking these things into your hearts, thinking in the manner that you have thought about the country all this time, thinking about the country in the future as well, thinking whether the country is going in the right direction? taking the country in the right direction? is it required to do so? Play our part in protecting the country within protecting the country, we should think about these things genuinely and concentrate our attention on each of these areas. By this I hope we can serve our country.

- Translation of Sarath Fonseka Speech given to the Buddhist Temple in Washington D.C on the 25th of October 2009