"I am free . . . and I need to tell the whole world what this means"

Congratulations to Mohammed, Ali, and Omar at Iraq the Model who are celebrating the 1 year anniversary of their blog. It has been a privilege to read their words this past year. They, and other Iraqi bloggers, are a reminder to many in the West what freedom means and what it costs.

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...
And I need to tell the whole world what this means.
I’d love to share this feeling with everyone, the feeling of being strong and capable of making miracles happen and that nothing can limit your dreams.

. . .

Our unlimited joy with our new found freedom that we still enjoy its sweetness is too precious to be lost or sold no matter what the price. I know that many people look at our writings with suspicion and disbelieve sometimes. Most of these people are misguided by the huge flow of lies or half-truths from the MSM and I don’t blame them, as how can anyone know what’s happening thousands of miles away without depending on the media!? actually they’re the people we are trying to reach because we know that most people are smart and honest enough to distinguish the truth from propaganda. But again there are those who were born free and don’t appreciate the gift they have received and the slaves who have come to love the walls of their prison and can’t see life in a different light. These are the people who simply can’t understand our joy and enthusiasm, and the only logical explanation to them would be that we, and people like us are propaganda tool. We long for the day when these people can appreciate freedom, and then we will be brothers and sisters again.

. . .

Now we strongly believe that being optimistic in the darkest times is not something to be ashamed of. It can help us override the obstacles we’re facing no matter how huge they may seem and doesn’t mean that we’re dreamers because our optimism is based on beliefs and facts that do exist but are unfortunately not recognized by the MSM and many governments and parties that are either ignorant or have a similar agenda to that of the tyrant we lived under for decades.

The most important thing we achieved in the past year is building trust and understanding among us, failing the evil attempts of those who want us to think of each other as enemies.

I believe that we’ve all learned so many things from each other and to some extent, we’ve succeeded in bridging even if a small fraction of the gap that separates our different cultures, at least in the way of thinking about solutions for our problems because we’re facing similar challenges and above all, we share a common goal; freedom for all mankind.

There are those here in the USA who believe that Saddam Hussein should not have been removed from power; who believe that Iraq was better off when Saddam was in charge. There are those who believe that Iraqis are not suited for democracy or the liberty some Americans take for granted.

But if there's anyone who isn't suited for democracy, it's people who believe such things; who believe that Mohammed, Ali, and Omar should still be suffering under the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein.

Thanks, Mohammed, Ali, and Omar, for reminding us to value our freedom. Here's to many more years.