That's the spirit! Spirit of America photo of one of our heroes surrounded by camera-hamming Iraqi children: "Our mission is to extend the goodwill of the American people to assist those advancing freedom and peace abroad. 100% of your donation goes directly to the project of your choice."
"Hope is justified, despite all one has seen and read about Iraq. Hope is justified because of the many Iraqis unseen and unwritten about," writes Daniel Henninger in Opinion Journal re Spirit of America's new project, Friends of Democracy, "created by Iraqis who want to prepare their country for the idea and practice of democracy in the three-month run-up to their January elections":
The Spirit of America's Iraq democracy project came together with a meeting several weeks ago in Amman, Jordan. The pro-freedom Iraqi bloggers at Iraqthemodel.com [one of our personal favorites, listed over on the right in our blogroll for daily reading] came, and their delightful account of a first-ever trip beyond Iraq's borders is up as an Oct. 20 post. Other Iraqis who attended have asked that their names not be published for obvious reasons. A woman who was reporting for Kurdish-run Al-Hurriya TV was gunned down last week in Baghdad. Still, all are willing to take personal risks to educate the Iraqi people about the meaning and purpose of democracy before that January election date.
Through a variety of projects, including documentaries, public service announcements, a Women's Leadership Program -- YES! -- a central internet website to share documents, citizen round tables and town-hall meetings, Friends of Democracy "hope to get Iraqis used to the until-now alien idea of free speech and open debate":
There are even plans for an Iraqi Federalist Papers. The idea here is to ask a group of Iraqi intellectuals to write on constitutionalism and the rule of law. They would publish a booklet, solicit responses, hold point-counterpoint debates and tape them for broadcast.
Gee. We could use a little citizen education on constitutionalism and the rule of law around here. Meanwhile, we encourage our readers to visit Spirit of America's website, take a look around and, if you are so inclined, contribute to their efforts. We gave last April to support their Iraqi television project and again in July for "Sewing Machines for Women in Ramadi," blogged here. We're opening our pocketbook again today to help kickstart Friends of Democracy.
Would that our educators read the Federalist Papers to their students. Unfortunately most of them have not read them for themselves, nor are they even aware of their existance
Posted by: acjgoomp | October 22, 2004 at 11:51 AM