The NYC events:
The official Spirit of America report on the NYC meetings.
Sean (one of the organizers)
More from Sean
Judith.
Mary
Eric
Yaron
Karol
Another report from NYC
Peter, another organizer, reports on the Tuesday luncheon.

While in NYC the brothers also met David Henninger at the Wall Street Journal.

Iraq's instability, notably in the country's center, is well advertised by now. Less appreciated, however, is Iraq's growing measure of economic stability and vitality. "Baghdad is booming," says Mohammed Fadhil Ali, one of three remarkable Ali brothers who oversee the Web log, Iraqthemodel.com.

Mohammed and his younger brother Omar came this week to the Journal's offices, their first trip to the States, to discuss Iraq's future. They were not overwhelmed by New York's holiday crush; Baghdad's population is roughly 5.7 million people. Stores there are overflowing with goods and the streets jammed with shoppers. It appears that the number of cars has doubled in a year. "The middle class is growing," says Omar. After the April 9, 2003, "liberation," Mohammed was determined to photograph every new building in Baghdad. "Now there is a new building in Baghdad every day; I can't count them all." Land and real-estate prices are surging. Most of the investment is coming out of the Arab world, not the West.

They made a couple of other interesting points about Iraq's political mood. One, Iraqis won't vote for a government dominated by Islamist religionists. Why? The abhorred next-door example of Iran's mullahs. This mirrors elections already held in Iraq. In a local election last year in Nazariya, with 47,000 votes cast amid imams urging support for Islamic parties, the biggest vote-getters were teachers, engineers and other professionals. And current party coalitions notwithstanding, the man on the street is sounding cussedly independent. A farmer in Samarra told them: "I will vote for a good man, Shia or Sunni." "We Iraqis don't trust any government now," says Mohammed, though Prime Minister Allawi's public standing rose after he first cleaned up Shiite Najaf, then Sunni Fallujah.

Yesterday in Iraq, the primary Shiite groups presented a voting "list" of 228 candidates. The really notable thing about these emerging lists, or slates, is that they are diverse. Most parties are pursing a "big tent" strategy--by ethnicity, religion and even gender. The Shiite coalition's candidates, for instance, include Shiite Kurds, Sunni independents from the Shamar tribe, minority Turkomans, even Yazidis, a minority religious sect. Banners from the major political parties are showing up all over Iraq carrying the same message: "Vote." Sounds like real politics.

The brothers did a radio interview with Brian Lehrer on WNYC, an NPR affiliate. You can listen here. (Scroll down to the "Listen" button at the bottom of the page.) I am listening to it now and the comments at Iraqi Bloggers Central are accurate. The bad news is the cynical antiwar cliches of Brian Lehrer and his callers, the good news is the brothers' articulate confidence. I'm sure the usual suspects will conclude that the brothers are naive victims of a CIA plot. . . .
Apparently Jeff got them on Brian Lehrer, and he has more comments on the slant of the show.
Maybe I should be less cynical about leftists being willing to re-examine their assumptions. From comments on the Iraq the Model blog:

I am ambivalent about the war, because I oppose foreign intervention in general, but I don't buy in to the left wing "America is Evil" argument. We are used to empty rhetoric from Bush and company, so it's amazing to hear the same thing from someone I can believe. You guys are making a lot of liberal and left leaning Americans rethink how they feel about the war.

I heard your brothers on the Brian Lehrer show on public radio and I was incredibly embarassed for liberal America. Apparently he couldn't get over the fact that you guys really did want America there. While I may not agree that Bush's main purpose was to free the Iraqi people, I don't think that takes away from the fact that we are trying to do that. I can't believe that your brothers came all the way from Iraq to tell us how much you apreciated America and that asshole had the nerve to argue with them.

Wow. I am predisposed to think Brian Lehrer is an ass, but even this lefty thought so. Good work, Brian.

From the DC events:
Deacon attended the DC meeting. Very cool that Wolfowitz spoke.
Jeff Jarvis was also at the DC event. Great conversation with Wolfowitz (who reads blogs), and Congressman Darrell Issa, who just found out about the Iraqi and Iranian ones. (More from Jeff, demonstrating Lt. Col. Couvillion's statement about the importace of personal connections.)
The Oval Office takes precedence over Andrew Sullivan.
Another report from the DC event, which looks to have been much fancier than ours. Yes, the brothers did get to meet with POTUS for half an hour.
One more.
Jeff relates the conversation the brothers had with Bush. Yes, the White House reads blogs!
Jim Hake (in email):

After talking about Spirit of America, Pres. Bush turned to Omar and Mohammed and said, "You see gentlemen, that is the beauty of America. I never met this man before but he's out there helping to win this War on Terror just as much as Wolfie here. That's what I believe in." He went on to talk about the importance of private-sector, grass roots initiatives like SoA.

In Boston:
Jeff reports on the conference session about SofA's Arabic blogging tool and the brothers' testimony about the power of blogs.

Omar is now speaking about what drove him to start the blog: "Mainstream media... and by that, I mean Arabic media." See, the U.S. is not the only place where "mainstream media" has become a bad word.

What he likes about blogs is that it is from people to people, not from institutions. "There are no barriers, no filters." He says comments are "the core of blogs." For those of you in the U.S. who are scared of comments, listen to this blogger. . . .

Mohammed now says: "It's from person to person, from heart to heart. I did not have any trouble understanding people thousands of miles away from me in spite of language and distance.... We share many things. Media try to show only the differences between groups and countries but really human beings have many, many things to share.... Here in blogging, I learn from my readers.... I think through blogging we can spread love more than we can spread hate. I started blogging because I saw through the media that they just want to spread hate... I have a different story and many Iraqi people agree with me.

Asked why they called their blog Iraq The Model, they said, "Iraq will be a model for the Middle East region and the world...."

Armed Liberal, an early adopter of the Spirit of America project, is at the conference too.
David Weinberger reports from that session.
A list of the bloggers at that session (including former Kesher Talk contributor Rachel Barenblat.)
A transcript from the session on the Arabic blogging tool, with some details on how the Friends of Democracy Project hosted blogs will work.(via IRC from The Longest Now)
Live-blogging from the session with links.
Live-blogging from another session with links.
Hoder's notes.
Blackfive:

I met Omar and Mohammed 22 hours ago in the hotel lobby. . . . We found our way to the conference. While waiting for things to kick off, the brothers had a smoke outside (having to smoke outside is intriguing to them), we talked about Harvard. We joked about a school in America being old after a few hundred years, but in Iraq, a few millenia earns an institution that title. Often you hear/read about people chosing to read blogs based on which bloggers they would rather have a beer with...Omar and Mohammed are no exception to that rule.

Thanks and next steps.
More from Blackfive: I can see it now - "The Arabic Blogosphere - Fact Checking Your Ass Since 2004". The rest is new friends and salient connections made - read it all.
Tim Oren reports from Boston: the ITMers have met and overcome at least one Boston lobster.
On the difficulties of standardizing written Arabic.

In Iraq:
Ali, back home, clears up the surname confusion.

In LA:
Roger Simon hosted the brothers at a small reception at his house Sunday evening:

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. Few writers in or out of the blogosphere can say as much.

I didn't get to spend as long and intimate a time with the brothers as Roger, but my impressions of their character is the same.

This is the power for the blogosphere: Individuals from anywhere can speak directly to anyone else on the planet. When you speak directly, when you write your most passionate thoughts, your character comes through. Decent humans beings can smell decency, and can smell hypocrisy and manipulation and bad reasoning as well. I am not afraid of suicide bombers making blogs, they will just show themselves more clearly, and the choices we all make about who to trust and support will not be misinformed.
Chapomatic live-blogs another LA reception.
Patterico at the Santa Monica reception:

There were extensive and intelligent questions from the audience afterwards. One question and answer really stayed with me long after I left. Someone asked: if America could supply three things to Iraq, what is needed most? Omar's answer: "Support, love, and encouragement." Material things will help, he said, but mostly Iraqis need to know that we are standing with them.

Read the whole thing.
From Roger:

. . . the question of whether we should have "disbanded the Iraqi Army" came up at our party for Iraq the Model the other night. Because I have never been to Iraq, speak no Arabic, never have been in the Army, etc., unlike others, I have never had a strong opinion on this issue. I simply do not consider myself qualified. But I have to say I was surprised at the response to the question. Omar, the younger brother, all of twenty-four but waaay wise beyond his years, simply laughed and said it would have been impossible. There was no way we could have kept the Iraqi Army together even if we had wanted to. The Iraqi Army, hugely underpaid conscripts who hated what they were doing, had already dissolved before we got to Baghdad. No one wanted any part of it. There was no Iraqi Army to preserve. We had to start all over again - which we have... eventually.

This is exactly what Tommy Franks has said. "We disbanded the Iraqi Army" is a false meme. I wonder when Snopes or Factcheck.org are going to get onto this. . . .
Cathy Siepp and Cecile DuBois were also at Roger's soiree:

Omar and Mohammed politely said they liked L.A. because the palm trees reminded them of home. But of course the highlight of their trip to America was the half-hour visit with President Bush in the Oval Office last week. Hake and a Marine colleague accompanied them, and Hake told us that the President cracked everyone up when he greeted the group with a deadpan: "So which two of you are the Iraqi bloggers?"

I wondered how Bush ended the meeting.
"He said, 'I'm sorry to kick you guys out, but I gotta get back to work,'" Hake said.
Cecile asked if they thought that in 15 years Iraq would see full civil rights for all citizens, including women. "I think even in 10 years," said Mohammad, adding that one positive sign now is that there is little public support "for girls like you to wear the hijab in school."

Read the whole thing.
Mickey Kaus:

They gave some credibility-boosting answers that Bush-backers might not approve (e.g. the violence will continue after the coming elections) and others that were merely ungratifying, if true (that winning the war against the insurgents will at best be a long, ecological process in which more people trust the government enough to turn insurgents in, which makes the government stronger, which encourages others to come forward, etc.)

Lydia:

I was fortunate enough to see them wandering in the lobby with Kerry Dupont and immediately knew who they were. I introduced myself.. they recognized the name and big smiles, hugs and yes *kisses on the cheek from andy* ensued. Omar asked where andy was.. I assumed too much and thought he knew she wasn't coming, so I simply said, Minnesota. D'oh! Mohammed was so vibrant.. it was like meeting an old friend. Same for Omar who seems to be a bit shyer. We sat down and not a minute later, a woman walked up w/out saying much, but the bros seemed to know her and asked her to sit down, so I thought maybe she was commenter. Turns out she was from the LA times and wanted to finish her interview. I didn't know this so introduced myself... the god-damn disdain I was met with!! I felt like I was meeting the queen of england! She didn't even offer her name and barely shook my hand!

. . . The meeting went wonderfully, and I met Patricia, Paterico, janet from venice beach and a whole host of others. We all hung out afterwards for a bit... I so wish it could've been longer but the bros looked tired. They're funny, intelligent and highly respected among those who are pushing for freedom there. One gal in particular, a teacher, was there only because she was a supporter of SoA. She hadn't heard about ITM, or even blogs, and she was quite eager to learn about these things. The frustration we all share about the MSM is quite widespread, and it was the main reason given by Mohammed as to why he decided to start blogging. TRUTH.

Another report from LA:

Al Burghard had some interesting information about the various ways that the family of Spirit of America projects, and others like them, provide unique benefits. For a military unit, small-scale initiatives that involve the locals build trust and win friends. He said that friendship in the Arab world really means something, and he had examples that back that up. An item about Al from in his home town paper provides a few examples. He spoke from personal experience in making another important point. The military procurement process is slow and cumbersome. Some projects are so small that they would get lost in the paperwork jungle. The military procurement process was designed for things like helicopters, but doesn�t work for things like sewing machines or dental kits. Privately-supported efforts can get things done quickly, and get the assistance directly to where it�s needed.

In Silicon Valley:
Tim Oren reports from the northern California reception.
Journalist Dan Gillmor, who profiled Spirit of America earlier in the year, gives the reception a bit of publicity.
Down the Avenue, whose client iUpload is powering the Arabic blogging tool, is bewildered by nay-sayers.
Silicon Valley Redneck:

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.

He has more about relative levels of risk and courage.
The official SofA blog wrap-up. Thanks for the link, guys!

Syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker devotes a column to Omar and Mohammed and the nascent democracy movement in Iraq.

Some members of the VRWC try to goad the Left into contributing to Spirit of America.

Spirit of America email from Jim Hake:

Last Thursday, I met with President Bush for 1/2 hour in the Oval Office along with SoA's Kerry Dupont, Omar and Mohammed from Iraq the Model and Friends of Democracy. The meeting came as a surprise. We received a call in our taxi while we were headed back to our hotel asking if we could be at the White House in 25 minutes. I'm told those close to the President thought it would be good for him to hear from "ordinary" Iraqis and to hear about Spirit of America. Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secy of Defense, and a staff member from the National Security Council were also there.

I found the President to be focused, interested, intelligent and committed. He also has a good sense of humor, which he employed liberally. Let me assure you, Spirit is not, and never will be, a political or policy organization. We view the work we are doing as something that people of every political persuasion should support. We're not going to blow it by playing politics. Nonetheless, we have one President. He is the Commander in Chief of the servicemen and women we are helping in Iraq and Afghanistan. We should want his support and now I'm glad we now have it.

The first part of the meeting focused on Omar and Mohammed's views of Iraq. Then we talked about Spirit of America. After hearing about what we are doing, the President turned to Omar and Mohammed and said, "You see gentlemen, that is the beauty of America. I never met this man before but he's out there helping to win this war on terror just as much as 'Wolfie' here." I would have expected President Bush to have kind words for what we are doing. I wasn't sure if he would see the strategic importance of what we are doing but I'm very happy he does. He went on to talk about the importance of private-sector, grass roots activities - people helping people, saying "that's what I believe in." Of course, that's what Spirit of America is about.

. . . Unlike the serendipitous meeting with Pres. Bush, the meeting with Tommy Franks had been in the works for a while. I'm happy to say that he also understands the value of what we're doing. This is best relayed by paraphrasing what he said. Gen Franks makes an important distinction between terrorists and terrorism. He said the military can deal with terrorists pretty well with a 9mm bullet. But terrorism was a whole different, more complex thing. He said he thought that Spirit of America and the America people had a better opportunity to deal with/reduce/defeat (I forget the exact word) terrorism than the U.S. Government bureaucracy. Of course, the commitment of the U.S. Government is essential. His point, I believe, was to highlight the importance of the American people and the particular approach of Spirit of America.