Week 10 - "learning something new about the Middle East"



Spending time with the Ambassador at an after-party.



I’m not sure what category this would fall into but we want to count this as one of our “adventures in retirement” because it was something new and because we both got a great deal out of it.

I helped a retired EIU political science professor put on a program called “The United States in World Crisis: Middle East Challenges.” There were two panel discussions on the Arab uprisings this year and the main event was a visit from Iraq’s ambassador to the United States, Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida’ie. The ambassador gave a speech and also had a session just for military veterans and families of veterans who served in Iraq.



The Ambassador  plans to write a book when his term ends.



Of course, with my newspaper background, this was something I really enjoyed. My main contribution was putting together the two panels. I started working on this last spring, even before our family get-together in Florida. The first panel included an EIU political science prof who teaches international terrorism, a surgeon from Egypt who now lives in Effingham but visits Egypt three times a year, including this past April; a University of Illinois prof from Iran who visited Tunisia this year and spent 16 years in Egypt and just completed a book, “Being Young and Muslim,” and a man from Yemen who got a master’s degree from EIU and now is a lobbyist in Washington for Yemen. The second panel included an EIU sociology prof from Iran, the director of Middle East Studies at the U of Illinois (also from Iran) and an Indiana State professor from Iraq. I got to moderate the second panel. We tried to get someone from the Israeli consulate in Chicago but he thought he would be a distraction and declined.



Mom and I really enjoyed the Iraq ambassador’s speech and had an opportunity to visit with him. He seemed very genuine and very sincere in wanting to thank American soldiers for their service. Patrick, he said to be sure to tell you thank you and that he is glad that you made it home safely. He asked where you served and when I told him Diyala Province and Mosul, he said, “Very tough area, very tough.” He was in exile for 26 years, most of Saddam Hussein’s time of leadership. He did not get to see his family for 13 years. They had to disown him to avoid persecution because he worked against Saddam. He said he lobbied the U.S. to intervene and overthrow Saddam. Whether US intervention was right, history will tell, he said. He knows mistakes have been made but he is optimistic that Iraq will be a democracy and that Iraq will remain a US ally. He said Iraq will never go back to having a despot like Saddam.

 

First of the two panel discussions on the Arab upsirings.

Dvorak Concert Hall was packed with about 500 people for his speech. But in the “thank-you” to veterans, only about 20 veterans and families were there. It was disappointing. Maybe it is too soon for veterans to be thanked by an Iraqi official. We know lots of families with sons who served in Iraq but none were there. I felt bad for the ambassador.



It was a very interesting and informative day, for us and for the community.