36 Comments

1. richard mcenroe:

Don’t get your hopes up. We had an Israeli fellow show up for one of our counterprotests with a big Israeli flag. One of the peace-lovers was driven to run through four lanes of traffic towards him screaming “You don’t speak for Israel! You don’t speak for Israel!” he just kept chanting it over and over with the same inflection, like a bit-player Dalek…

Dec 13, 2004 - 7:47 am 2. shakespeare_101:

Awesome news Roger. Thanks for sharing your time with them. I also have found their website of immense help and comfort/relief over the course of the war. For me the US made a promise to the people of Iraq like Omar, Ali, Mohammad and their families. Quite frankly GW got my vote because I could see the evidence of the promise fulfilled reading Iraqi blogs like Iraqthemodel.

Dec 13, 2004 - 7:50 am 3. Peter G.:

I’ve enjoyed reading about Omar and Mohammed’s visit to America. Your impressions of them are similar to those expressed elsewhere. I liked to hear from other bloggers who attended as well.

I was particularly struck by the mention that the White House staff reads blogs – presumably Iraqi blogs. This is a great idea (and I’m not saying that they should only read the positive ones – they should read as many as possible). Given the credibility of the US intelligence agencies (and their hostility toward the administration) any information about Iraq that the White House can get elsewhere is worth pursuing.

Dec 13, 2004 - 8:20 am 4. Knucklehead:

Roger,

I appreciate everything you do to try to help Roger’s Place Patrons informed and thinking. Mohammed and Omar are fortunate to have you as a friend and, perhaps, that is even more true of you to have them as friends. Nonetheless…

“What government [a nation] can bear depends not on the state of science, however exalted, in a select band of enlightened men, but on the condition of the general mind.” –Thomas Jefferson to Lafayette, 1817. (*) ME 15:114

I hope there are plenty more like Omar and Mohammed where they came from.

Dec 13, 2004 - 8:43 am 5. N.Z. Bear:

Roger:

Thanks again for hosting and for the opportunity to meet such fine folks.

I just had to point out an irony alert, however. I notice that your Ads By Google on this post include the following:

“USIraqProCon: Should the US have attacked Iraq? Credible pros & cons in the debate.”

After meeting Omar and Mohammed, I don’t think I need to click on that link, thankyouverymuch…

-NZB

Dec 13, 2004 - 9:01 am 6. WichitaBoy:

How sad that the spirit of freedom seems to have expired here in America, only to be replaced with a craven isolationism seeking to pass itself off as principled multiculturalism.

Dec 13, 2004 - 9:04 am 7. Dishman:

If you’d invited your local readers who wanted to come, it probably would have overwhelmed your capacity for hospitality. I, for one, would not have hesitated to drive the 200 miles from Fresno to be there.

Dec 13, 2004 - 10:06 am 8. Catherine:

Wow!

Cool!

I hope you told them Hi from all of us!

Dec 13, 2004 - 10:14 am 9. TmjUtah:

It’s 800 miles to Hollywood from Happy Valley…and I would have been there with bells on (and no artillery at all)…

Omar and Mohammed understand that freedom is a quality that transcends mere culture or religion. They want nothing from anyone except the opportunity to pursue their lives without tyranny. Free people don’t threaten anybody but those who depend on controlling others’ lives for their own power.

America isn’t an agenda-driven empire bent on controlling anybody. We are a bunch of individuals who have benefited from common ideas of individual worth, justice, and optomism so much for so long that, sadly, many of us fail to realize just how we got to where we are today.

Dec 13, 2004 - 10:17 am 10. Solomon:

I know exactly what you mean about turning to them during the dark times.

Very, very jealous of the time you spent!

Dec 13, 2004 - 10:17 am 11. Syl:

“but on the darkest days of the war, at the times the media were at their gloomiest and I was racked with guilt that I had so adamantly supported our actions, I almost always turned first to them.”

I did too though I was never ever racked with guilt about Iraq and I am not afraid to admit it. I felt bad about so many dying but I never doubted the rightness of our actions. I turned to them because I needed to know how Iraqi’s felt about it. I needed more than anything else to hear individuals, to hear real people speak in their own words about what was happening to them, how they were affected. I needed flesh and blood Iraqi’s instead of some vague stereotype of what an Iraqi may or may not be.

Omar said early on that they made a conscious decision to be optimistic. I took that to heart and followed that precept during those dark times. Their attitude was a comfort. But I also appreciate Riverbend, for she and her family are real too. And that’s what makes Iraq so vivid…the people are real, just like you and me, with different opinions, approaches to life, and general attitudes. And I followed Zeyad’s ups and downs as well.

Freedom is for all of them and they will each handle it in their own way, as it should be. But the brothers are special in that they are being pro-active and will spread the joys and promises of democracy to others in the region.

Dec 13, 2004 - 10:45 am 12. Skeej:

Roger,

Have been reading you for some time, and only just now remembering to say thanks for your effort – honest and brave, and now with the support for the brothers from Iraq, you are living the example by mentoring and supporting their effort.

These guys will be thought of as the Patrick Henry’s and Samuel Adams’ of their country by Iraqi schoolchildren studying their own history someday.

Skeej

Dec 13, 2004 - 10:54 am 13. PeterArgus:

I second Syl’s comment. When so many people were dying it made me very angry at the thugs who would do such terrible things. That anger could have been misdirected at the Iraqi people as a whole. But the Iraq the Model blog reminded me that there were many Iraqis who wanted to be free and were just like us in so many ways.

Dec 13, 2004 - 10:59 am 14. JenLArt:

Way cool, Roger!

I am so jealous…You can tell what great guys they are from their blog.

I, too, would have commuted from Dallas, TX to have been there

(and to bask in your presence, as well!:-) )

I still turn to the superb Iraqi blogs, starting with IraqtheModel, for the *real* news from Iraq–the good news of the first fruits of the blessings of Liberty there that we don’t get from the MSM ever.

Dec 13, 2004 - 11:00 am 15. wxjames:

Roger, I agree with you. I would go to IRAQTHEMODEL to find out how bad the street was when the MSM had us killing everyone including ourselves. Now when there may be real problems, I never go near the MSM who cried wolf. I’ll stick with the Fadhil brothers for reality and to the end. I only hope they can make a difference in Iraq as they have on the internet.

They are great people.

Dec 13, 2004 - 12:13 pm 16. Terrye:

Roger:

Like you I had my moments of guilt and worry and stilkl do from to time, but the people of Iraq deserve a chance to the same kind of free and open society that we Americans deserve for ourselves. These bloggers are examples of what is possible.

and like Catherine said…Cool.

Dec 13, 2004 - 12:20 pm 17. Ed Poinsett:

Roger, thank you for all that you do. I hope you were also able to thank the Fadhil brothers for all they do for us.

I continue to be saddened and dismayed that our MSM plays down historic events such as these. Our country is actively involved in helping others secure freedom and hope for their future. What a magnificent calling! It may be the single biggest contribution we can make to mankind.

How can Blue State elites think we should somehow be ashamed, or sorry for our actions in Iraq and elsewhere in the ME?

The MSM would have us think that Laci Peterson’s murder or Bernie Kerik’s nannygate are the real issues we should focus on. Bah, Humbug!

Dec 13, 2004 - 12:44 pm 18. Kyda Sylvester:

Thanks for sharing, Roger. I will be attending the gathering in Palo Alto tomorrow (not quite as intimate as an evening at your house, but, hey, I’m thrilled nonetheless). If possible, I look forward to it now even more. Jim Hake will be on tap tomorrow as well as LTC Al Burghard (US Marines) and Dan Gillmor who, you may know, is leaving the San Jose Mercury News to develop a “grass roots” journalism venture (I hope he’s planning on sharing some details). I’m very excited.

Dec 13, 2004 - 1:14 pm 19. Mister Ghost:

Unfortunately,

Omar, Mohammed, and Ali are now subject to the “tall weed” syndrome and will be the victim of

more attacks like the one Juan Cole did on

them:

“The MR posting brings up questions about the Iraqi brothers who run the IraqTheModel site. It points out that the views of the brothers are celebrated in the right-leaning weblogging world of the US, even though opinion polling shows that their views are far out of the mainstream of Iraqi opinion. It notes that their choice of internet service provider, in Abilene, Texas, is rather suspicious, and wonders whether they are getting some extra support from certain quarters.”

Juan in his posting actually sides with Baathist

Babe Riverbend and seems to accuse the brothers

of “blog trolling!”

Hat Tips LGF and Across The Bay

Dec 13, 2004 - 1:22 pm 20. Tom Grey - Liberty Dad:

Roger, it is FANTASTIC that you met, and can support them.

Any chance of setting up some kind of “blog-buddies” system, where they find an Iraqi willing/able to blog and some non-Iraq (American? Westerner?) partners with them to get started? (Early blogging can be lonely)

On the guilt side, Roger. Please remember Vietnam.

As of 1971, being AGASINT the US fighting in Vietnam means supporting the alternative: the US leaving, and the commies winning, and the Killing Fields.

So far, what the US is doing and has done in Iraq is pretty far MUCH less bad than what YOU, and other anti-War activists, were implicitly supporting in Vietnam.

“But we didn’t know”… Kerry knew it would be thousands, just that 2-3000 (1971 testimoney) is laughably less than 2-3 million in reality (SE Asia 74-79). Why didn’t a protester know, after China’s Great Leap Forward, and Cultural Revolution? After the Uranium mines in Eastern Europe?

Because it was never then, nor now, about “them”. In Vietnam, it was about us — we don’t want to get drafted and go fight & die. Pretty poor implementation by LBJ and Nixon on Vietnamization, but the right strategy.

Today, the anti-War folk don’t care, or think much about, the Iraqis — except to project suffering on them and use this as a club against Bush.

We need a world without dictators.

Faster, please.

Dec 13, 2004 - 2:46 pm 21. Gavin Shorto:

What do you mean, Bush joked about having his teeth examined?

Dec 13, 2004 - 4:14 pm 22. Kathy K:

“I know exactly what you mean about turning to them during the dark times.”

As do I. Not just them but others as well. I wish they had come by Florida; I’d have loved to meet them too.

Dec 13, 2004 - 4:38 pm 23. Caroline:

There’s no doubt that if Iraq turns out OK in the end the brothers will go down in Iraq history ( at least I think they should) as having played a major role in keeping Americans behind “Operation Iraqi Freedom” through all the dark times. As Skeej said, “These guys will be thought of as the Patrick Henry’s and Samuel Adams’ of their country by Iraqi schoolchildren studying their own history someday.” I sure hope so. That’s how I see it.

“That anger could have been misdirected at the Iraqi people as a whole.” (Peter Argus)

How true is that? If not for the pro-American blogs like ITM? (And one of my own favorites – Alaa at the Messopotamian – I may be the only person who cannot access the comments section of ITM or, e.g the Big Pharoah – because of whatever server they use – java script, halo scan whatever? can’t get it! – but Alaa’s blog works fine…)

However, after drinking the elixir of the brothers at ITM (of course it is because it affirms our own pro-war feelings) its like a cold slap on the face to read Baghdad Burning.

Have the brothers met the anti-war bloggers? Have they met Riverbend?

That is a story I want to see. What happens when the pro and anti-war Iraqi bloggers meet in person and hash it out? Can they come to any agreement? If so, I would have more confidence that Iraq itself can make it….

Dec 13, 2004 - 5:42 pm 24. nopundit:

Roger,

You are history.

History in the making that is. You have created a breathtaking seat for yourself in world events. I suspect only those who never seek the seat will ever sit in it.

Unlike architecture or wine or sex partners, getting it right in world events in the 21st century is clear cut. (Thank God!) America is getting it right; that so many otherwise fine and good people see so much wrong with America staggers me.

George W. Bush will stand with Washington and Lincoln as one third of the triumvirate of America’s greatest presidents (yes, he will surpass Reagan). His work and his contribution and his vision are that significant.

God Bless Omar, Mohammed, and Ali, and all of the Iraqis who want nothing more than all of the wonderful blessings and problems peace and prosperity brings. I truly cannot think of a better Christmas present than to see Iraq get what it has fought for and deserves!

Kenneth Greenlee

Dec 13, 2004 - 5:58 pm 25. Catherine:

Syl

Omar said early on that they made a conscious decision to be optimistic.

Golly.

I wish I’d read that post.

A conscious decision to be optimistic: that is pretty much what my whole life is about.

I think I’ve posted this story, but if not, I once told the supervisor of our older son’s special ed program, “In our family, we don’t believe in being realistic.”

Those were my exact words. The man had called me up on the phone to tell me, as the program’s psychologist had told me the week before, that when it came to my son’s education, he had to be realistic.

I told him we don’t hold with that, and we don’t. (At least, not when it comes to autism. I’ve mentioned our little Household Split on the subject of foreign affairs.)

It was a great moment, because in my experience it’s rare that you think of what you should have said at the very moment you should have said it.

It worked, too. This was an experienced administrator just moved up from NYC; he was used to dealing with parents.

I stopped him cold.

The line went silent, and finally he said, in a tentative kind of voice, “Maybe I should find out what you mean by ‘realistic.’”

I said, as diplomatically as possible, that being realistic was not his job. Educating my son: that was his job. There’s nothing wise or admirable about being realistic on other people’s behalf. You don’t even have to get out of bed to do it.

Thirteen years ago I made a conscious decision to be optimistic. We had taken Jimmy to a developmental pediatrician who broke my heart: Jimmy would be like the Rain Man when he grew up, she said. That was the very best we could hope for.

I fell off a cliff, but on my way down I called my mother, who said, “She doesn’t know what Jimmy’s future will be. Only God knows that.”

She was right. I made my decision, and I’ve stuck to it.

Not only stuck to it, but expanded it outward to the equally unfathomable realms of war and peace. Each morning, when I read the day’s sad-and-bad report from Iraq, I think what my mother thought: They don’t know what Iraq’s future will be. Only God knows that.

Dec 13, 2004 - 6:36 pm 26. Catherine:

Has anyone noticed the Elites slinking back on board?

In the run-up to the election they all abandoned ship . . . Friedman, Zakaria, Berman . . . the whole lot of them.

You can tell things are looking up in Iraq, because they’re all back.

Check out Friedman yesterday; Zakaria today on realclearpolitics.

Dec 13, 2004 - 6:40 pm 27. BeckyJ:

Roger – thanks for the updates on the brothers. Chiming in with others….I would have flown from Philly to meet them. DC would have been easier, but didn’t know (or get invited…hmph!) until afterwards. I am jealous too. But still feel like I was there from your descriptions.

I, too spent a lot of time at ITM during the heavy combat phases. I wanted to get an idea of what ordinary people were going through and if our MSM was correct or just following the “if it bleeds, it leads” catechism. It was usually the latter.

Juan Cole had a particularly despicable post up about the brothers today, as Mr. Ghost noted. If I didn’t hate the 9-5 cubicle life so much, I’d quit academia and go back to it. But then, I think, there’s gotta be one sane person in a university, and I’m trying to fill that role for my university. I think it’s working!

Dec 13, 2004 - 6:54 pm 28. Peter G.:

Thanks for the tip, Catherine. The Zakaria article is worth a link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6700784/site/newsweek/

Dec 13, 2004 - 7:10 pm 29. chuck:

Catherine,

The last person I want at my back when the going gets tough is an elite liberal. Throw Sullivan into that group. Chickened out, the lot of them.

Dec 13, 2004 - 8:06 pm 30. chuck:

And Zacharia is rewriting history. La de da. What was that memo, CYA? I am not God, but I don’t think the guy has a clue.

Dec 13, 2004 - 8:12 pm 31. Frederick:

BeckyJ:

Cole dislikes the brothers because one of them made Cole look like a fool a couple of weeks ago. Cole made a comment about Fallujah and cited some historical evidence to support it. One of the brothers, who was surprised at the comment, and doubted that there could be such evidence, looked into the matter and found that Cole’s “evidence” was a ridiculous Saddam Hussein propaganda film. That made Cole look like a careless poseur rather than a distinguished scholar. The University of Michigan should get rid of Cole and hire one of the brothers to replace him. Then yours would not be the only university with a sane person in it.

Dec 13, 2004 - 9:02 pm 32. Barrett:

Roger and fellow readers,

First, you, Roger, deserve our thanks for keeping many important issues in focus. With enough sunlight, knowledge can be had and truth be known.

Second, I am happy that you had a chance to meet with these Iraqi patriots, who have taken the risk to champion freedom and report on the developments inside Iraq with a different perspective. You earned this with your forum and desire to know the truth. It is very cool.

Third, you mention your struggle over your adamant support for the war when all of the news seemed bad. I think that many of us had similar feelings and thoughts during quiet, private moments. The saying “war is hell” has been passed down for a reason. American kids and innocent Iraqis have been killed fighting for freedom. (I say freedom because it is not just freedom in Iraq that is at stake.) While the war in Iraq has been just and necessary, I don’t know anyone with a conscience who isn’t strained by the human cost. In fact, I believe Mr. Bush feels this way even though has has been resolute in his conviction regarding the War on Terror of the war in Iraq is a part.

Best regards and thanks for the great site,

Barrett

Dec 13, 2004 - 9:03 pm 33. blogaddict:

I’m not at all surprised that the brothers had unusual qualities of warmth, humor, and intelligence when you met them in person, nor am I at all surprised that you felt as though they were already your friends. That’s one of the strange but wonderful and mysterious things about the blogosphere–you get to know someone you’ve never met in a way that seems deeper, in some respects, than the way you know some people you HAVE met. It’s like mindmelding or something (I know, I know, not really!) but there is some quality of “knowing” that is indeed unique.

For me, I felt from the start when I read iraqthemodel that these guys were unusually wonderful, as human beings and writers. And their courage is beyond amazing, as well as their modesty. Although all of this comes across loud and clear in almost every sentence of their blog, so that in a way we don’t need to meet them, I bet nearly everyone who reads their blog would have traveled far for the privilege of meeting them. It must have been a truly amazing experience for you, Roger, and for everyone there. It’s moving even to imagine it.

I think one of the reasons for the deep emotion many of us (myself included) feel about the brothers is what several here have already written about–they supported us and cheered US up in times that must have been very dark for them. It was hard for me to continue to feel so gloomy and frightened when the guys at iraqthemodel weren’t. It is so paradoxical that it happened that way–who ever would have expected that three young men in Baghdad would have helped all of us so much during the aftermath of the war?

So, part of what I feel for them is gratitude. I think of them as the modern-day personification of people such as Patrick Henry and all those early patriots and thinkers who championed freedom. These brothers give the word “freedom” new meaning and new reality.

Dec 13, 2004 - 10:06 pm 34. Brian H:

What Syl said.

Anyone who wants a .doc collection of Mohammed’s pre-war diary posts (re-posts) and an image of the USN&WR article, including photo, please email me. They are free to redistribute, per Mohammed.

brianh-at-ipkonfig.com

Dec 13, 2004 - 11:57 pm 35. RonC:

“..collection of Mohammed’s pre-war diary posts..”

That is quite an offer, Brian. I’ll certainly put in my request, and thank you!

Roger…

I can not imagine why you would be ‘racked with guilt’ for supporting the war to rid Iraq of a murderous dictator, that we knew supported terrorist goals, paid them, trained them and wished them success on attacking America. And, we knew he had plans to develope dangerous weapons. In the process , we freed millions of men, women and children that prayed daily to be rid of him.

I can understand that you might have been disappointed with the way things were handled by lying media – making things look worse than they actually were. Perhaps that contributed to your guilt – needlessly.

As one of ITM’s largest contributors, and first visitors, my greatest pleasure was seeing them get the opportunity to meet Bush. They deserved it, and they deserve the best support we can all give them.

Dec 14, 2004 - 4:54 am 36. Silicon valley Jim:

I have just returned from the Spirit of America reception in Palo Alto. Omar and Mohammed were there, along with Jim Hake, the founder of Spirit of America, USMC Lt. Col. Alan Burghard, and soon-to-be-former-San-Jose-Mercury-columnist Dan Gillmor. We heard from all five, and, as a result, I’m more impressed than ever with what people like them have done. To say that the Spirit of America is a worthy cause is a huge understatement.

Dec 14, 2004 - 1:54 pm

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