As has been noted, the Spirit of America mini-tour came to Palo Alto today. Having somehow gotten on the invitation list (presumably as a donor, not as a blogger), I naturally leapt at the opportunity to meet Omar and Mohammed of Iraq the Model, a blog I've been reading since its early days, i.e., for a bit over a year. Also present were SoA founder Jim Hake, USMC LtCol Al Burghard, and various other people (bloggers, SoA donors, and others), some of whom had come considerable distances.
The ItM brothers were largely unsurprising in person: after reading their blog for the past year, and having seen their photograph in USA Today some time ago, it seems I knew them much better than I would have guessed. Their English proficiency was a bit unexpected; while their written English is there to be seen on their blog, I hadn't figured it would carry over to spoken conversation - but apparently it does.
There were unstructured milling-about discussion periods before and after the main event, during which the brothers mentioned that most of the terror and chaos in Baghdad is happening in a few areas, while the rest of the city goes about its business - and confirmed my impression that Zeyad lives in one of the more, er, interesting neighborhoods.
Interesting points: in response to a question about protecting the rights of women and of religious minorities, Mohammed pointed out that (a) women are the majority, at 60% of the population, and (b) there really is no monolithic ethnic or religious majority in Iraq - that if, say, the National Assembly decided to enshrine Islamic law in the new constitution, it would then fragment over the issue of which version of Islamic law was meant. He also noted that the major Shia Islamist parties realize the need for inclusiveness, to the extent of having Sunni and Christian candidates on their slates.
On the subject of Arabic blogging (one of the projects sponsored by SoA), Omar noted that there are many Iranian blogs, both in English and in Farsi, despite the restrictions on speech and Internet access; this bodes well for a dramatic expansion of blogging in Iraq, which no longer has such restrictions, and which already has many blogs in English - far outnumbering the blogs of the rest of the Arabic-speaking world.
LtCol Burghard was a bit of a surprise. Drop him in an accountants' convention and play "spot the jarhead," and he'd be invisible. Change the game to "spot the evangelist," however, and he stands out: he's clearly a true believer in the underlying principle of democracy, that the common man is worthy of self-government. (Mohammed and Omar show the same belief, but not as radiantly, at least not after a hectic week in a strange land.)
If Mohammed and Omar are in any way representative of the Iraqi people, Iraq has a promising future; if their attitude can spread (the "Viral Freedom" concept), the old order in the Middle East is doomed.
Additional:
The feel of the gathering was refreshing. Imagine putting a few dozen people in a small room, in late-2004 California, and having no trace of hate in the air. None. There was the inevitable uncertainty of a room full of people mostly meeting (in person, at least) for the first time, but no hint of the festering animosity that poisons so many social events lately.
Update:
More commentary and grand linkfest at Kesher Talk.
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