To The People of Afghanistan & Iraq

CONGRATULATIONS! You have now participated in your nations' first free and democratic elections. And, in doing so, you have taken the first steps toward taking control of your future, your personal and national destiny.

As an American I may not fully appreciate your culture or your history --- but I do know that we have our rights as individuals, our freedom, in common. And a distinctive perspective, a reflection, that you are only beginning to envision for yourselves.

Like you, Americans have undergone a remarkable struggle to define themselves. Our ancestors fought and died throughout our history to provide, assure and guarantee the freedoms we now so warmly cherish; often at the hands of those we now call our friends and allies. This heritage, for all free peoples, is not only a heritage of the past but our legacy for the future. Freedom loving and democratic principled people of the world all appreciate that theirs is a daily struggle to protect and defend what so many contemptible tyrants would gladly take away.

Regardless of the pseudo differences our detractors may create between us, do not be blinded by them. The American people are celebrating, with you, your newly-won independence. They are praying for your future success. Nothing heartens the people of this nation more than the sight of others, once bound by the chains of totalitarianism, free and independent...and exercising their individual rights to cast their ballots in the name of Liberty.