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Ambassador Negroponte shakes hands with Iraqi President Ghazi Al-Yawer during a reception celebrating America's Independence Day. Negroponte dedicated the celebration of independence to the Iraqi people. (State Dept)
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President Al-Yawar, Prime Minister Allawi, Ministers, distinguished guests, colleagues, fellow Americans:
On a hot day in Philadelphia over two hundred years ago, men from all walks of life gathered to proclaim their independence from a regime that had denied them voice and vote in the affairs of the state in which they lived.
I can think of no better time or place than today in Baghdad to commemorate the valor of those patriots and pay homage to the principles upon which they based the declaration that led to the creation of the United States of America.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence could not know how severely they would be tested for placing their inalienable, democratic rights above the sovereignty of a king. They could not know how they would secure their safety against royal armies and foreign mercenaries. They could not know how they would find their way from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution of the United States, or how they would negotiate the diverse interests and concerns that preoccupied the thirteen colonies stretching from New Hampshire to Georgia. They had studied Aristotle and they had studied Locke, but politics is not a science, and the future they faced could not be foretold.
Even so, these future Americans boldly set out on the path to freedom with only their principles and convictions as their guides. History records that their principles and convictions served them well.
Today I would like to dedicate our celebration of independence to the Iraqi people. These times taken altogether -- the weeks, the months, and the years ahead -- are their independence days, their creative moment defining their democracy, choosing their leaders, and shaping a constitutional order to frame and preserve their sovereignty, freedom, and inalienable rights. In all these endeavors, the people of Iraq have the respect and admiration of the people of the United States of America. We wish them well and pledge them our support.
Ladies and gentlemen: Please join me in raising a glass to the Iraqi people -- may they prosper in freedom and democracy, and overcome all the great challenges that lie ahead.
Thank you for joining us today. I hope you will return to be with us again on the Fourth of July many, many times in the years to come.
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