Day 49 - Prelude to Independence Day

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

American Independence Day was a hot topic at work today. I spent a few hours with the Turkish mentors this morning and they asked me all about "the 4th of July." Questions like "what do you celebrate?", "what does the typical American family do on that holiday?", "why July 4th?", etc. I was a little surprised at the naiveté of the questions, but then I shouldn't have been. I had to look on Wikipedia to discover that the Turkish celebrate Republic day on October 29th commemorating the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923 after their war of independence.

Our Afghan interpreters and colleagues were equally as curious. I made it a point to all of them that the holiday is properly called Independence Day in America, and not really the "4th of July." This has always been a pet peeve of mine, but I digress.

This whole train of thinking did get me to wondering what day will Afghanistan celebrate as its Independence Day? According to Wikipedia, 19 August has been widely celebrated as Afghan Independence Day after the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919 that formally recognized Afghanistan and ended British influence here. However, after 30+ years of alternating war and destruction first by Russia and then by the Taliban, I wonder if this will continue to be the norm. I'm not arrogant enough to suggest the Afghans change their customs because of any US, NATO, or Coalition actions, I was just wondering. There has been a major civil war here since 1978 and didn't subside much when Russian forces were finally withdrawn in 1989. One could argue the country is still in the midst of a civil war. Things are far from decided by the looks of it.

So until tomorrow, have a very happy and enjoyable Independence Day weekend. Attend a parade, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, admire a flag, meet some new people, sing "America the Beautiful" (if you can't sing, listen to this Ray Charles version from 1991), watch some fireworks, and eat some BBQ. If you have time, thank a veteran, say a short prayer for the deployed soldiers, think about voting this fall, and take a few minutes to read the Declaration of Independence. To quote the primary author:

"Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion."

Thomas Jefferson