From Afghanistan

Stephen F. Hayes writes from Afghanistan in the weekly Standard, describing the managed chaos surrounding the inauguration of Hamid Karzai as first elected president of that nation, then relates a portion of the inaugural address

All of this activity came to a halt when Karzai, dressed in his flowing green silk coat and black lambskin hat, approached the microphone. He thanked Vice President Cheney for making the trip from Washington and then turned his attention to the American people:

Whatever we have achieved in Afghanistan--the peace, the election, the reconstruction, the life that the Afghans are living today in peace, the children going to school, the businesses, the fact that Afghanistan is again a respected member of the international community--is from the help that the United States of America gave us. Without that help Afghanistan would be in the hands of terrorists--destroyed, poverty-stricken, and without its children going to school or getting an education. We are very, very grateful, to put it in the simple words that we know, to the people of the United States of America for bringing us this day.

Sadly, most Americans never heard these words. Gratitude, it seems, is not terribly newsworthy. Neither is democracy. The Washington Post played Karzai's inauguration on page A-13, a placement that suggested it was relatively less important than Eliot Spitzer's decision to run for governor of New York or the decision of the U.S. government to import flu vaccine from Germany.

In this season away from friends and family in a land not quite as far along that rough road to freedom, those of us in Iraq can take heart from these words too - though it's indeed a shame I hadn't heard or read them before Hayes' report either.

And all the more a shame, given that many of America's finest gave their all for this moment and those yet to come. Those with any sense of recent history whatsoever will recall that from the start the Afghan operation was declared a "quagmire" and "another Vietnam" by many in the American media, who cited history, terrain, and American weakness as likely causes for failure. Still, within three years of commencing this bold adventure we've replaced a 'government' that thought nothing of destroying the World Trade Center, 2000-year-old statues of Buddha, and countless human lives with a leadership that promises hope in the face of hopelessness, and an ability to look towards tomorrow without despair.

By the way, here in Iraq there's much left to do and little time to do it between now and election day, and those so inclined are encouraged to offer prayers for the Coalition troops, their families back home, and the people of Iraq today. With Christmas coming and ugly work at hand you can be assured the quagmire crowd will have plenty to discuss in the days to come.