De tre modige brødre fra Iraq The Model har nu publiceret deres weblog i 1 år, og fejrer deres fødselsdag med en reflektion over hvorfor de har skrevet den. Som man måske ved har bloggen og den modtagelse den har fået blandt internationale bloggere og medier (hvor der måske nogen gange bliver lagt for meget vægt på brødrenes udsagn som sandhedsvidner), bl.a. ført til oprettelsen af et politisk parti, der ligesom så mange andre vil stille op til valget til januar.
Det er faktisk en meget rørende historie om hvordan bloggere kan skabe et fællesskab og være med til at bygge værdier op og skabe handling. Mohammed Fadhil skriver:
This wasn’t an action from one side, your [læserne og kommentatorerne, LH] have always been a rich source of inspiration to us.
We have learned the meaning of being united together and we never felt alone in this; freedom lovers are everywhere. Reading your comments and e-mails made my cry many times and I wish I could remember all your names and I could feel everyone, even those who didn’t write to us.
I wish I could embrace you all.
Ali er lidt mere nede på jorden, men ikke mindre taknemmelig og glad:
What I’m trying to say is that it was the readers, our good friends who share with us this humble page who made me realize that I must write, I must tell people everywhere what I, being an Iraqi see in Iraq, what I think and what I want. I’ll be always grateful for the people who helped me and my brothers find our voices and encourage us to share our minds and hearts with as many people as possible from allover the world.
Han har også en kommentar til beskyldningerne om propaganda, ikke mindst fra andre irakere.
This blog was not a propaganda tool and will never be. 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 [MainStreamMedia, LH] 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.
Omar, der skrev den første ydmyge postering på bloggen, får det sidste ord. Jo, det er højtragende, men det manglede da også bare, når man endelig kan se en ende på 35 års tyranni.
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.