The commander of the US military unit
training Iraqi opposition forces in Hungary, Army Major General David
Barno, was welcomed to the Embassy of Hungary today by Ambassador András
Simonyi and members of the Embassy staff in a gesture of appreciation
for the General's able leadership.
General
Barno, commander of the Training Task Force that was operating out of
the Taszár military air base in Hungary, spoke briefly to the staff
of the Embassy and thanked Hungarians both home and abroad for their
support of U.S. efforts to disarm Saddam Hussein.
Ambassador
Simonyi praised Gerenal Barno's efforts to cooperate to the largest
extent possible with Hungarian Government as well as local authorities
while the program was underway and presented the General with a silver
coin minted to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Hungarian
statesman and freedom fighter Louis Kossuth's visit to the United
States. General Barno reciprocated by offering a picture featuring an
aerial photograph of the Taszár base flanked by the insignia of the
military units that took part in the training.
The
Free Iraqi Forces (FIF) trained at the Taszár base joined U.S. forces
late March and early April to act as liaison officers between the Army
and the locals, and to help international humanitarian efforts in
Iraq.
