Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A Dearth of Joy

For the first time in 16 years, there was no military parade through the streets of Kabul and no cheering crowds marking the national Afghan holiday celebrating the triumphant guerrilla fight against Soviet occupation forces during the 1980s. The national stadium and mosque were prepared for the occasion with banners and posters of the war's fallen heroes, but the public ceremony was abruptly canceled. It was widely assumed that officials were concerned about the possibility of a terrorist attack, such as occurred last year when a member of parliament and two other people were killed by gunmen who opened fire on the festivities.
NEWS SERVICES

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