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2004-12-10 
Iraq the Model bloggers meet the prez!
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Posted by Korora 2004-12-10 12:23:00 AM|| || Front Page|| [11136 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 And at least two Rantburgers also attended this function and got to meet Mohammed and Omar. That would be myself and 2b. It was a very special night and I'm writing about it now but it'll take some time. Check back here this afternoon...maybe 2b will have some thoughts too.
Posted by Seafarious  2004-12-10 9:57:55 AM||   2004-12-10 9:57:55 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Seafarious, that is way cool, as my son would say. Type faster, please.
Posted by Matt 2004-12-10 11:37:18 AM||   2004-12-10 11:37:18 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Update: still writing. Just got done describing the free wine and cheese.

Posted by Seafarious  2004-12-10 12:49:10 PM||   2004-12-10 12:49:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 What a great summary!

I was happy to be present and felt graced by the opportunity to touch such goodness and optimism.

I read blogs and thus have a far better idea of what’s really going on in Iraq than those who read only the MSM wire feeds, which, IMHO, could be easily be condensed down to one sentence: "You've already lost the war, go home." (Or, as they say on Fox, “Has America already lost the war, and should America go home?”)

But what surprised me most, was how much it surprised me to hear their portrayal of the normalcy of life in Iraq and the overall Iraqi enthusiasm for their elections and their future. I don’t know why it surprised me, because, as a voracious blog reader I do get access to the good news. But I think that the daily dose of depression dished out by “professional” reporters casts such a ghostly pall, that still shrouds my ability to see these events in their true light.

Listening last night, the real picture of Iraq suddenly came into focus; people going about their daily life, taking their kids to school, chatting in internet cafes, and displaying their art from the second story of a burned out building. They hear the bombs in the distance, but life goes on. They are eager to join the modern world, to reclaim their nation and its rich potential. They aren’t cowering in fear or looking over their shoulders to the past. They are looking forward and the future looks brighter than it has in so many years.

As I listened, I felt really cheated. Here is this wonderful true-life story going on in Iraq and we are intentionally deprived by partisan hacks in the media of an opportunity to share in their hopes, dreams, joys and sorrows. Instead, all that we ever get are reports of doom, gloom and darkness, from coffee-shop-poet-wannabe-reporters, who believe that greatness is measured by one's ability to fit the most number of words referencing death and despair into one paragraph.

What an opportunity these reporters are missing! They are graced by God with the opportunity to record, first hand, a moment in history that is perhaps as pivotal to civilization as our own revolution was. It’s as if they were actually present at Yorktown or Valley Forge!! How sad that instead of writing works of greatness to be passed down through the ages, that they write only drivel destined for the same garbage bins as out-of-focus photographs of History’s Great Moments.

Anyway, I can only say thank you to Mohammed, Omar, Marine LtCol David Couvillon and Jim Hake (and others). Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share in your joy and accomplishments in this great adventure to end horrific oppression and set a nation free.
Posted by 2b 2004-12-10 1:07:21 PM||   2004-12-10 1:07:21 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 I'm jealous! I managed to arrage to be free on Monday to go meet the team in NYC, but the brothers were delayed in transit and I couldn't get free on Tuesday when they did arrive.

Bummer - but I'm glad others got to meet them.
Posted by rkb 2004-12-10 1:13:58 PM||   2004-12-10 1:13:58 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 And I got to meet Sea - who is a really nice and a great person (who BTW everyone thought made a great public comment). I've got to go now, but I look forward to hearing more!
Posted by 2b 2004-12-10 1:18:46 PM||   2004-12-10 1:18:46 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Wow--I'm jealous, too! THanks for the update, 2b! Em--type faster! *sound of whip snapping*
Posted by Dar  2004-12-10 1:34:03 PM||   2004-12-10 1:34:03 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Hey this writing stuff is hard! Here's Part I...part II will come later tonight or I'll put it all together for a post tomorrow.
Posted by Seafarious  2004-12-10 3:58:07 PM||   2004-12-10 3:58:07 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 My heart is still full after a fantastic evening meeting the people who are doing the unbelievably hard work of making the world safe and free, one blog post, one soccer jersey, one battalion of US Marines at a time.

I’m on Spirit of America’s mailing list, and they sent notice about an event they were hosting in several cities, with a stop at the Cosmos Club in DC on 9 December. I figgered it would basically be a fundraiser, but I wanted to say “thanks” to Jim Hake (the man who made it all happen). Yesterday I made my way downtown to a “diplomatic permit only” parking space in front of the Indian Embassy, and with a quick dash through the pouring December rain, I was inside the Club.

First, a word about the Cosmos Club. It is magnificent – a beautiful huge mansion along Embassy Row on Massachusetts Avenue. Inside, all is marble and carved mahogany, with everything you’d expect. Sweeping staircases and mammoth fireplaces, grim oil portraits of past presidents, the works.

We were ushered up the stairs to a spacious parlor, with complimentary wine and the standard cheese/crackers/grapes/veggies/ranch dip display that afflicts every Washington cocktail hour. I didn’t recognize anyone in the crowd of about one hundred. After a few minutes, another door opened, the crowd moved in to the conference room and we chose our seats. The panel of speakers was arrayed across the front of the room, with a video camera at the ready.

I’m sorry that I don’t remember the name of the lady who did the introductions, or of the gentleman who was the past President of the Club. After they spoke, they passed the microphone to Jim Hake, the founder and engine of Spirit of America. He’s about 6 feet tall, with nice sandy brown hair and an Afghanistan/Iraq tan. He told us about his experiences as a businessman and then as the driving force behind SoA. Then he teased us by passing up Omar and Mohammed and handing the microphone to the man at the other end of the row, a man of military bearing and a really great smile.

USMC Lt. Col. David Couvillon was a delight. He’s a reservist from Louisiana who was tasked to lead 935 sailors and Marines to Iraq right after Saddam’s statue fell. Upon arrival, he presented himself to his CO, and said “Reporting for duty, sir. What are my orders?” The CO looked at him and said, “Congratulations, Couvillon. You’re now the governor of the province.”

“Er, the what, sir?”
“The governor of the province. You’re responsible for everything that happens here.”
“Sir, what are my orders? What is my mission? What are my goals?”
“You’re responsible for everything that happens here.”
“Oh. Of course, sir. Thank you, sir.”

So his job became the preservation and rebuilding of his province (and I can’t for the life of me remember which one it was. Sorry). He had to lead his 935 men and women (only 60 of whom were over the age of 25) to provide security and law enforcement, restore electric and water plants, provide for waste removal and sewage treatment, and maybe another million or so details. His stories were great –like how the Iraqi electric engineers were ecstatic to receive the ultimate manna from Heaven: duct tape. How he had to grant petitions in his role as governor; citizens would come to ask him for permission to marry, to buy a house, to start a business. One farmer came to him for permission to harvest the crops:

“Are they your crops?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are they ready to be harvested?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then please, by all means, harvest your crops.”
“Thank you, sir. Another question, please?”
“Yes?”
“Where do I sell my crops?”

That was the legacy and the broken society that Saddam left behind him on his way to the spider hole. The Iraqis had to be taught how to make decisions for themselves and operate independently, while trusting each other enough to work together. The Marines took extra special care to treat the kids well; giving them candy and goodies, fixing up the schools. And here is where Jim Hake and Spirit of America stepped in. Jim contacted the colonel by email: what can we help you with? The reply: we need two thousand soccer jerseys. And they need to be red-white-and-blue. (He asked for those colors specifically because the Iraqis kept asking for US flags. And pictures of President Bush.) Jim got them eight hundred. The Iraqis got a mostly- functional province. And Lt. Col. Couvillon brought all 935 sailors and Marines safely home with him.

End Part I
Posted by Seafarious  2004-12-10 4:00:21 PM||   2004-12-10 4:00:21 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 Great posts by 2b and Seafarious. There is a little article about my fellow Cajun Dave Couvillon here
Posted by Matt 2004-12-10 4:10:26 PM||   2004-12-10 4:10:26 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 Seafarious, great read!
Posted by 2b 2004-12-10 4:53:47 PM||   2004-12-10 4:53:47 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 Great stories, folks. Keep 'em coming as the tour goes on.

Roger L. Simon is having them over at his house! One of the few times I envy LA folk.
Posted by someone 2004-12-10 10:37:43 PM||   2004-12-10 10:37:43 PM|| Front Page Top

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