NEWS ANALYSIS Chairman’s Speech Important to Many By Tim Sullivan Hoya Staff Writer

When Afghan Interim Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai appeared on the McDonough Gymnasium dais Sunday night, the crowd of nearly 2,000 mostly Afghan-Americans applauded wildly for the man tasked with rebuilding their homeland after years of war, famine and drought.

It was a night of intense pride in a reborn Afghanistan and a night steeped in symbolism. The crowd erupted when the Afghan national flag was placed on the dais next to the American flag. Hundreds of Afghan-American guests sang along with the Afghan national anthem, several in tears. When a group of local Afghan-American children performed a traditional Afghan song and dance, it elicited cheers and widespread smiles from the crowd.

It was clear that Karzai’s visit was a momentous event in the lives of the Afghan-American community, many of whom had fled the turmoil Karzai is credited with ending.

“The Taliban ruined our country,” said Borhanullah Karimi, a Lorton, Va., resident who fled Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion in 1979. When he came to the United States, he married an American woman whose father is a general in the U.S. Army. Two of his brothers-in-law are currently B2 bomber pilots stationed in Afghanistan. He said the U.S. campaign to oust the Taliban made him “feel good.”

“I’m looking forward for us to be in charge in Afghanistan,” he said, referring to Karzai, who is from the same tribe as Karimi. His greatest hopes for Afghanistan, he said, are that it be “wonderfully alive” again.

The same pride was evident in Afghan singer Ehsan Aman, who sang the national anthem before Karzai was introduced.

“This is such a big, historic event for us … it’s an honor to be here,” Aman, who was born in the Helmand province in Afghanistan, said. “After 23 or 24 years, [Karzai’s visit] is a sign of hope for the Afghan nation.” Aman praised Karzai as “a great man.”

Fatema Ehsan, 10, came to the speech as part of the Afghan Hope group that performed a traditional Afghan song and dance before Karzai’s speech. She said that she “felt bad about the war” in Afghanistan. “They have nothing to eat,” she said. Dressed in traditional ceremonial Afghan clothes, she said that most people in Afghanistan “don’t have these clothes anymore – just the very rich people.”

Sohaila Abbasi said that 18 years after she left Afghanistan, she is finally pleased with the direction in which the country is going. “It was awful,” she said, calling Taliban rulers “animals.”

It was also evident from the tone and theme of Karzai’s speech that the event was intended as an impromptu town-hall meeting for Afghan-Americans. On several occasions, members of the audience stood up and shouted questions at Karzai, who fielded them effortlessly and encouraged audience participation.

The speech itself seemed to be an attempt on the part of Karzai to present himself to Afghan-Americans as the hope for the future of a unified Afghanistan, not as an instrument of American dominance in the region. He made few references to the bombing campaign that ousted the Taliban, choosing instead to focus on the remaining work of rebuilding Afghanistan from the ground up. He delivered his remarks in both of the primary languages spoken in Afghanistan, switching back and forth between Farsi and Pashto, an unmistakable symbol of his stated desire for unity.

Students, faculty and staff constituted a minority of the audience at the speech, with 2,000 of the 2,500 guests coming as invitees of the recently reopened Afghan Embassy.

The magnitude of the event was also obvious from the preparations taken by the university. Georgetown coordinated efforts from the Department of Public Safety, the Metropolitan Police Department as well as several divisions of the United States Secret Service, according to Assistant Vice President for Communications Julie Green Bataille. Bataille said that costs were shared between all three groups along with the District of Columbia.

Security at the event was much tighter than many previous events at Georgetown, including the presence of metal detectors and armed, uniformed Secret Service agents inspecting bags and packages. Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service was on hand as well.

Bataille said that recently appointed Emergency Preparedness Director Don Jones was closely involved in the preparations, which included walk-throughs conducted by police and fire officials as well as the Secret Service.

According to Bataille, Georgetown extended the invitation to Karzai when his trip – the first by an Afghan head of state since 1963 – was announced. She said that the Afghan embassy selected Georgetown “because of our location, experience coordinating high-level dignitary visits, academic excellence in international affairs and student engagement in Afghan issues.”

Georgetown also took the opportunity presented by Karzai’s visit to highlight its own efforts to assist the emerging government in Afghanistan, including a fellowship program conducted by the School of Foreign Service to train Afghan leaders. University President John J. DeGioia also said that the university is exploring further means of assistance, including sending volunteer medical, legal and business advisors to the region.

Further underscoring the significance of Karzai’s visit was DeGioia’s awarding of the President’s Medal to Karzai. In a press release, DeGioia said that “Chairman Karzai’s visit to Georgetown underscores higher education’s vital role in society,” He stressed the need for universities to address pressing issues: “It is an unequalled forum for the debate and discussion of ideas and for the thoughtful assessment of social problems.”

On Sunday, Georgetown provided that forum, and a nation listened.