Chargé d’Affaires Speeches

Remarks by the Chargé d’Affaires
Second Annual Remembrance Ceremony
Ethiopia-America September 11 Memorial Park

Friday, September 9, 2005
Entoto Mountain
As Prepared for Delivery

In all our lives there are defining moments – a time, a place, and a person that you will never forget. For many of us here, September 11, 2001 was a defining moment – perhaps that moment was when you saw the second aircraft strike the second tower -- or when the twin towers themselves crumbled and fell. Or perhaps it was when you looked over the Potomac and saw billowing smoke rising from the pentagon.

Or perhaps – most tragic of all – it was when you lost someone you loved. 

For me, there have been two defining moments in my lifetime: the great tragedy of September 11 and President Kohn F. Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963.  on that day almost 42 years ago I was inspired to join the Peace Corps.  These defining moments – despite the sorrow they bring – help us to  rise above our selfish interests and reach out to each other and the world.  As Kennedy so eloquently said, “It is the fate of this generation to - to live with a struggle we did not start, in a world we did not make.”

Never has that statement been more true than today when we – and indeed everyone across the globe – must fear that an terrorist act might randomly strike us or our loved ones.

My country now leads the world in facing that terrorist threat.  How well we lead will determine if we – and our allies in this most deadly of wars – will keep our countries safe, stable, and democratic.

If we face the challenge with courage, compassion and understanding we will win, not just the battle against evil – but the war against poverty, hunger, and oppression everywhere. 

If we are to help the world win this war – our  victory must be their victory.  Because we must together foster stable democracies that reject intolerance and terrorism.  And we must help them grow prosperity, so that we defeat together the scourges of poverty, unemployment, and instability.

In Africa, the policies of success will be based on common values and dedicated to the creation of a more just, prosperous and democratic continent.

So in memory of this tragic day, September 11, 2001, let us re-dedicate ourselves to president Franklin Roosevelt’s four essential freedoms:

· Freedom of assembly and speech - everywhere in the world

· Freedom of worship - everywhere in the world

· Freedom from  hunger - everywhere in the world

· Freedom from fear - anywhere in the world...

I would now like to thank the government and people of Ethiopia for making this memorial possible.   It demonstrates our mutual commitment to these essential freedoms.
A very sincere thank you to Addis Ababa Mayor Arkebe; and to Ato Zegey Abberu of the Ethiopia Heritage Trust, and to the Churches of St. Mary and St. Raphael.  A very special thank you to the members of the American community who have selflessly dedicated themselves to this endeavor.  It would not have been possible without you.  I am especially pleased that this is a living memorial created and cared for by our two communities.

Today we are planting over 200 trees native to Ethiopia and dedicating five benches that have been donated by members and groups in the American Embassy community.

This memorial is a beautiful example of President Kennedy’s words:  “For time and the world do not stand still.  Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past are certain to miss the future.”

With our Ethiopian friends we have set the course for a better future.