Happy First Anniversary . . .

. . . to Iraq The Model!

I've watched quietly from the sidelines since Omar, Ali and Mohammed, three brothers, entered "Blogdad" for the first time a year ago. Unlike what I was hearing and reading via the MSM about what was happening in Iraq, theirs was a completely different perspective. First, they lived there and had all their lives. They knew all too well what life under Saddam had been like. Secondly, they were positive about the changes that had already occurred and even more positive about Iraq's future.

Two cultures that had been such strangers began to become acquainted, discovering in some cases incredible similarities. (One was their introduction to our Thanksgiving Day, that last year coincided with Eid, their food-filled celebration that officially marks the end of Ramadan.)

And so it continued and continues still.

Today we celebrate the 1st anniversary of this blog. We sat together recalling the early moments in the life of Iraq the model, reliving the moments of happiness and grief and the huge magnitude of events we've been through in the past twelve months where tears mixed with smiles, anger and dreams....it's been a long year. Many people ask me why I started to write and how was the beginning and I today remember the time when we were sitting together, carrying our dreams, our ambitions and our hunger to communicate with the others; it felt like a sweet dream to find all the doors wide open for us and all the chains that restricted our minds simply gone. I am free...

Mohammed, 11/14/04

Read the rest.