Ambassador Invites Afghans to Share Americans’ “Joy and Pride” on U.S. Election Day
Kabul, Afghanistan - Standing in a packed hall hung with red, white and blue bunting and balloons, U.S. Ambassador William Wood invited the Afghan people to “share with all Americans the joy and pride of democracy” during the U.S. Embassy’s celebration of the 2008 U.S. elections. Afghan Members of Parliament and government officials, Western ambassadors and other Afghan and international guests thronged the main ballroom of the Serena Hotel beginning just after 6 a.m. local time for the event, the first of its kind ever held in Kabul, Afghanistan. The celebration was held nearly one year after terrorists attacked the hotel, a landmark of downtown Kabul.
“I invite all Afghans to share with all Americans the joy and pride of democracy,” the Ambassador urged. “I invite all Afghans to register to vote, and to make plans to vote for the candidate of their choice. And I invite all Afghans to feel the same joy, and hope, and confidence, that all Americans are feeling today.”
Guests crowded around a giant television at one end of the hall as results slowly came in from the U.S. Throughout the morning, Embassy staff tallied electoral results on a map of the United States, while Afghan and other guests colored in the states in red and blue ink. Many stood beside life-size cutouts of each candidate to have their pictures taken. Guests were also invited to cast their ballots in a mock election. Senator Obama won the local tally in a landslide, 74 to 3.
They watched raptly, first as newscasters declared Senator Obama the winner, then as Senator McCain conceded. Later the hall grew silent for President-Elect Obama’s victory speech. Afterward, the hall erupted in applause.
Ambassador Wood noted that while it is often leaders who speak to the people, on Election Day, the people send a message to their leaders. “The people make the choice, and then the country rallies around that choice,” he said. “And in that act of rebirth, the country takes new hope, and new confidence, and new resolution to move forward.”
Speaking to Afghan and international reporters after McCain’s concession, Ambassador Wood noted that both candidates had pledged to increase the American commitment to Afghanistan over the long term. That commitment, he said, extends from security to governance to development to human rights. “So that Afghanistan will be a safer, more prosperous, and happier country for all of its citizens,” Ambassador Wood said. “I am sure that improving security for Afghanistan will be one of Senator Obama’s highest priorities for his policy here.
Asked if it would be possible to safely hold presidential elections in Afghanistan next year, the Ambassador declared that, “we are confident in Afghanistan’s ability to hold the vote.” He noted that American elections took place in 1864, during the U.S. Civil War, and quoted Abraham Lincoln, who said, “If the rebels could have prevented these elections, they could have fairly claimed to have defeated us. And they did not.” He added, “I am convinced, and I think the government of Afghanistan is convinced, that effective voting can be held throughout the country on voting day.”