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Iraq the Model bloggers meet the prez!
This evening I attended an event in Washington, DC that was sponsored by Spirit Of America.net. It was held at the Cosmos Club, an exclusive men's club that's fancy enough that we all had to dress up. Several people spoke to us, including Jim Hake from Spirit of America, and Omar and Mohammed, the bloggers of Iraq The Model. It was great to see the people behind the wonderful works of Spirit of America, and to hear first hand about how things are going in Iraq. Omar and Mohammed are dismayed at the portrayal of the situation in Iraq from the media, and want us to know that things are going good and that the Iraqi people are thankful to the US for their liberation. They are enthused at the prospect of starting an arabic-language blog which will help spread the word about democracy and the upcoming election. They explained that there are lots of internet cafes in Iraq and that they are getting a lot of use by average citizens, but they are particularly interested in getting debate and conversation going between university students. Marine LtCol David Couvillon, who governed one of the Iraq provinces during the occupation, also spoke to us. LtCol Couvillon was the one made the first request to Spirit Of America for assistance, and started the ball rolling.Now here's the best part: today, without prior notice, Omar and Mohammed went to the Oval Office and met with President Bush! They said that the meeting lasted about a half hour, and the President was very interested in hearing the thoughts and opinions of Iraqi citizens first hand. He wasn't aware until then of the good things that Spirit Of America has been doing over there to help the Iraqi people and assist in their obtaining democracy. Omar joked that he got to meet POTUS and they didn't even search his pockets beforehand. I met briefly with Omar and had him pose for a photo. I didn't talk to Mohammed but grabbed a quick shot of him which I know is is out of focus but I'm posting it anyway. Omar Mohammed For more information on the Friends of Democracy project, go here. Please join American Faith in helping this worthy cause by contributing through The Blogger Challenge. Update: I have blurred the photos since some have expressed concern about them. But please note: there was a professional photographer at the event, filming everything, and it sure looked like it was something that would be released to the public. In fact, Jim Hake said that the man doing the filming was the one who set up the "Iraqi Amputees Meet The President" photo op. If I see these guys on the news, the unblurred photos are going back up. Posted by: Korora 2004-12-10 |
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