Some more thoughts on independence

Before she woke up this morning, the small group of us here began celebrating her birthday.

The 4^th of July is a different experience overseas. You do not drive up and down streets dressed in red, white and blue ribbons. There is no smell of hot dogs wafting from your neighbor’s yard. You do not see scores of ski boats and party barges lazily floating down the rivers, filled with partiers enjoying a long weekend.

Here, it is a day like any other. No pomp, no circumstance. No celebration, save the handful of us who call the United States home.

This is my second Independence Day abroad, and I find myself in much the same position I was last year, writing a blog post while everyone else is preparing for the cookout.

Is the battle finally over?

My generation’s children will study this day, and so will their children to follow.

Tucked away somewhere beside the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War and the 2001 attack on New York, the death of Osama Bin Laden will make the history books. Perhaps that chapter in the book will be titled, “The fall of modern terrorism,” or perhaps not.

But today, streets are lined with celebrators, and the red, white and blue hangs proudly, punctuating the revelry. Thousands have supposedly gathered at Ground Zero to put a nail in the coffin of their suffering. People across America, across the world really, are cheering out, praising Justice for the blow it has delivered against Evil. Many Muslim countries and leagues have lauded the efforts of America in bringing down Bin Laden, and Saudi Arabia refused to repatriate his body. They had to bury him at sea, apparently because no one wanted him on their soil.

It is already being hailed as the end of an age. Alongside the recent rioting and political upsets occurring across the Middle East, people are saying there is a new age rising, an age that sees a brighter future for global relations. US-friendly democratic states in the Middle East may develop and now we have seen the death of the most wanted man in the world. Is the battle finally over?