I think I can I could speak for the others present when I say both brothers exuded a unique combination of calm, warmth and intelligence. They are also deep lovers of freedom in a way it is difficult to be for those of us who grow up with it. If many Iraqis are like these two young Baghdad dentists, I am quite anxious to go to Iraq.
I was relieved by what they were like on a deeper level as well. They don't know this, 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 didn't look to them for unbiased opinions. There is no such thing. I looked to them to see how real Iraqis were reacting to a situation that affected them more directly than it could ever affect me or the prognosticators of doom in our media. They were the ones who bucked me up-not the other way around, as it should be. In a certain sense they helped my sanity. And I suspect I am not alone in that.
Roger speaks my own thoughts here. The three brothers who bring us Iraq the Model - Omar, Mohammed, and Ali Fadhil - have been a crucial voice and a real light in the dark for those of us who have been involved with the situation in Iraq. They are also an inspiration to freedom-loving people everywhere.
Ali, for reasons as yet undisclosed, was unable to join Mohammed and Omar and is staying home in Baghdad for the time being. I imagine he must feel a bit like Michael Collins, orbiting the moon while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left footprints, planted flags, and hit golf balls ... oh, wait, the golf balls came later. Well, you get the idea.
But I'm wrong there, of course, because Iraq is where it's all happening. Iraq is what it's all about. And yes, it's still dangerous and lives are still being lost; but changes for the better are happening at an amazing pace.
Think how far we've come in a year. A year - yes, you do remember what happened a year ago, don't you?
That's right - December 14 marks the anniversary of the capture of Saddam Hussein.
Rejoice.
