"Spirit of America"

[Moses]

bushout.blogspot.com/2004/12/exposing-iraq-model-debate-over.html

December 16, 2004

Exposing "Iraq The Model"
The debate over whether the Fadhil brothers' Iraq the Model blog has covert US backing continues, with Ali Fadhil finally responding to questions posed four days earlier at the Martini Republic.

Are the brothers now or have they ever been in any kind of American pay (beyond the largesse of their rightwing PayPal contributors)?"

Yes and no. Yes we were promised by "Spirit of America" to pay for the costs of our NGO "Friends of Democracy" and its projects to help build democracy in Iraq, and they said they have sent some money but we haven't got it yet...

OK, let's have a look at the "Spirit Of America" group (SoA). Who are these people? Well, basically they are a fund-raising and PR arm of Paul Wolfowitz's neo-conservative coterie, in league with Bush's buddies in the US oil and gas industry, masquerading as peace-loving fans of US-style "democracy".

Here's a critical piece of information for you "freedom"-loving ITM and SoA folks:
Spirit of America operates under the auspices of Cyber Century Forum, a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. And Cyber Century Forum's tax return for 2003 shows that it is financially supported by $109,440 in corporate stocks from Schlumberger Ltd, "the leading oilfield services technology company supplying technology, project management and information solutions to the oil and gas industries."

Isn't that a big surprise? "Freedom and Democracy for Iraq", sponsored by the US oil and gas industry.

Now, when Omar and Mohammed from ITM were invited to a White House meeting with President Bush, they were accompanied by Jim Hake, chairman and founder of Spirit Of America, plus another SoA executive, Kerry Dupont. What's more, Paul Wolfowitz - who has previously championed the ITM blog, was also present (I assume that it was Wolfie who set up the meeting, for the benefit of both SoA and ITM).

Here's a first-hand account of that meeting from Spirit of America head Jim Hake himself (link courtesy of Shot In The Dark):

On Thursday, Omar and Mohammed from Iraq the Model and Friends of Democracy, Kerry Dupont from SoA and I met with President Bush in the Oval Office. It was a half-hour meeting with the President. Paul Wolfowitz was also there.

I'll be posting more information in the next two days but here are two items.
About half way into the meeting the President said to Omar and Mohammed, "I want you two to know that we are going to stay until the job is done. It doesn't matter what the rest of the world says. It doesn't matter what the UN says. We are going to stay until the job is done. It's important that your country knows that." It was a powerful and moving moment.
After talking about Spirit of America, Pres. Bush turned to Omar and Mohammed and said, " You see gentlemen, that is the beauty of America. I never met this man before but he's out there helping to win this war on terror just as much as Wolfie here. That's what I believe in." He went on to talk about the importance of private-sector, grass roots initiatives like SoA.
Yeah, you gotta love your private sector when it comes to making things happen for the GOP. Let's just take a look at how SoA and ITM operate, for instance...

SoA have just finished running a Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge. To enter the challenge, "all you have to do is link to your fundraising page and encourage your visitors to donate." The ITM site won the Individual Blog category, raising over $17,000, well ahead of other right-wing blogs like Little Green Footballs and Roger L. Simpson. The Challenge raised a total of $90,177 for SoA.

In return for winning the challenge, the ITM brothers get a free SoA cap and T-shirt. No money. I'd love to know if Ali plans to wear the SoA cap and T-shirt around downtown Baghdad.
Iraq The Model were also recently the winners were for best non-American blog at Right Wing News' "Annual Warblogger Awards". That's right, Right... Wing... News.

And yet Ali Fadhil protests that he does not want to be associated with right-wing US politics!

I was never invited to meet Bush (neither my brothers knew until they were there) and we don't know why he wanted that, but this is where I agree with you that those who did set up this meeting had their own motives that we don't share with them...

The world is bigger than you and your partisan conflicts and frankly I'm getting sick of it. Take this crap somewhere else and leave us alone! We have enough problems to deal with and we are not interested in supporting any party anwhere, as simply we cannot afford the time or the effort.

Do you know what, Ali? This is something I can actually agree with you on, to some extent. I am always accused of being a pro-Kerry leftist (if not a Communist) because I oppose Bush and virtually all his policies. It's really frustrating.
But do you know what else, Ali? If you and your brothers are not working covertly with the CIA or other US agencies, then you must be the most gullible, foolish and pathetically manipulated stooges in Iraq, if not the world. I mean, you have just raised over $17,000 for people whose motives you do not share? Come off it.
Are you going to tell us you were duped by the people from Spirit of America? Or are you just trying to disassociate yourself from Bush's neoconservatives at this late stage because there are elections coming soon and that sort of thing just doesn't play too well with the average Iraqi (i.e. you are out of touch with mainstream Iraqi opinion, which was exactly what Juan Cole said in the first place).

(Follow the debate here or at Juan Cole or at Martini Republic).

UPDATE 1: Schlumberger provide over 90% of the financial support for Spirit of America's parent company, Cyber Century Forum. The rest is provided by Transocean Sedco Forex, the world's largest offshore drilling company.

UPDATE 2: When asked what three things Iraqis would most like from the US, ITM blogger Omar replied, "Support, love, and encouragement." Compare that with Riverbend's Christmas wish list, which includes gasoline, kerosine, landmine detectors and diesel generators. Who do YOU think is more in touch with real Iraqis?


posted by gandhi at 13:30   



Anonymous said...

Anyone who believe's this should read the "Actual" tax return, as Ghandi appears to be totally incapable of doing so. The corporate funding for Spirit of America came from Seaview LLC, a shopping mall developer.

Mike SC USA said...

Gandhi sober up! To call Schlumberger LTD (named for Francois Conrad Schlumberger) an oil company is like calling Microsoft a computer maker. Further there were THREE DIVISIONS of Schlumberger in 2003 you fail to mention not just the oil SERVICES division. Its was founded in FRANCE and has principal offices in Paris, The Hague and ta-da NYC) Didier Primat a FRENCHman own 4% (6,803,600 share) of the company (net worth 1.6billion USD)
90% revenue? HUH?? Look at line 1a DIRECT PUBLIC SUPPORT $56,548 --that where the funding (aka INCOME) comes from not the measly $1509 from stocks.
Don’t you think it strange their contribution over the last 5 years were
1999--$70,050
2000--$100,200
2001--$75,000
2002--$45,000
2003--$56,548
Seems consistent to me—what’s your beef? The Officers (management) DONNATED their time so who made any money?
Jeeze your Sooooooo biased, it makes my head hurt.
And I thought we were talking money here. Anything under $200K is peanuts. The average price of a house is more than that!
Why didn’t you read page 13 Primary Purpose Statement—its about "nformation technology and services in support of global economic development, education, heath care and quality of life'

06:33  <br>
Dave Nalle said...

So well put, Mike. I'm glad you saved me the trouble of going through the return point by point and showing how absolutely flawed Ghandi's analysis of it was.
The only things you didn't mention is that Schlumberger's oil division is mostly involved in offshore drilling, which is not the primary method of drilling in Iraq, and that in fact, the companies which will benefit from Iraqi oil are the distribiution companies not the drilling companies as the drilling is being done primarily by Iraqi organizations.
The other item is that there's no indication where that Schlumberger stock came from in the return. If it was a gift to Cyber Century, then there's a connection to at least think about, but as the return stands it could just as easily have been bought by them, in which case it's CC giving money to Schlumberger, not the other way around.
Dave
www.elitispig.com

[Moses]

jim.typepad.com/jimhake/2003/11/la_times_standi.html

STANDING OUTSIDE THEIR CIRCLE
Pacific Palisades couple find themselves at odds with staunchly antiwar friends, but say the war hasn't realigned their liberal politics.
By Sandy Banks
Times Staff Writer




March 21, 2003



Jim and Kristy Hake hardly consider themselves hawks.

The couple met in yoga class 12 years ago. Jim, a computer software guru, has helped spread technology to developing countries in Africa and investigated human rights abuses in El Salvador. Kristy, an artist, spent two years living in Southeast Asia, helping resettle Thai and Cambodian refugees.

At home in Pacific Palisades, their social circle -- his poker buddies, her book club, the parents of their children's friends -- is decidedly liberal and antiwar.

But there was Jim at the microphone last week, chastising the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District for considering a resolution condemning plans to attack Iraq. And that was his byline in their neighborhood newspaper, on a column supporting military action and on another debunking the "No War for Oil" mantra of peace activists.

There was Kristy, falling uncharacteristically quiet with her book group -- odd woman out as her friends spoke against the impending war. And now that it has begun, there is Kristy -- a Democrat who "found myself defending Bill Clinton a lot" when his presidency was under fire -- hoping she won't have to defend his successor.

"It's hard for me," she said haltingly, sitting in the sun-dappled dining room of their hillside home last week. "I have these great friends. We drop off our kids at school, walk together to get coffee, talk about everything.... We think the same way on child-rearing, social issues, what charities we support. Then it comes to this. And it gets awkward.

"Nobody wants war," she continued, running a hand nervously through her blond hair. "But I'm not happy with 'liberals' who don't consider human rights and democracy things worth fighting for."

The couple said the war hasn't realigned their politics. "I don't consider myself a conservative," Jim said. But it has brought into sharp relief their notion of personal and collective responsibility, and even landed them, at times, as uncomfortably at odds with each other as with their friends.

Both support the Bush administration's policy toward Iraq and believe that war became inevitable. But Kristy spent the past months praying every morning that war could be avoided. "I'd light a candle and visualize alternatives -- that Saddam would be exiled or vanquished by his own people." Jim spent the past 18 months -- since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- studying the conflict in the Middle East and poring over news stories, reports by Amnesty International, transcripts of Department of Defense briefings, accounts of old interviews with Osama bin Laden.

The attack on Iraq was long overdue, he concluded. Keeping quiet -- effecting detente among his cronies -- would mean shirking his civic responsibility.

He's encouraged, not embarrassed, by the U.S. show of force, he said Thursday as missiles struck Baghdad: "It's quite clear to me that what's happening is the right thing for our country to do."

Still, "I'm not on some sort of crusade," he says, his eyes clear and serious behind black-rimmed glasses. "I don't consider myself an activist. The last thing I'd want is some know-it-all guy trying to shove something down my throat. But I think it's important to take a stand."

Jim's newspaper pieces surprised many and prompted an angry reader to leave an anonymous message on the Hakes' answering machine suggesting in obscene terms what Jim could do with his opinions.

Kristy admires her husband's passion. "He's this sweet, spiritual, idealistic guy," she said. But she conceded that his obsession with figuring out how he felt about war unnerved her, as she tried to sort out her own feelings. His dogged pursuit of the "truth" -- and insistence on sharing it with her -- frustrated her "when what I felt was mostly confused," she said. "He wanted me to know and I didn't know how I felt. I had to say to him, 'Why is it so important for me to have an opinion on this? You have an opinion. Let me be ambivalent in my ambivalence.' "

So Jim stopped trying to convince her. Ultimately, she came around on her own, drawing on lessons -- as he had done -- from her family and her upbringing.

Both Jim, 45, and Kristy, 44, are the children of military veterans. Jim's father fought in World War II. A wooden chest from his service tour now sits in the couple's family room, holding a jumble of dress-up clothes -- wizard gear, animal costumes, plastic swords and Ninja outfits -- that their sons play with.

Kristy's dad fought in Korea and Vietnam. He was a Navy pilot, as is her brother. She grew up in Asia on military bases, and protested the war as a teenager -- "right on my dad's base" alongside singer Joan Baez, she recalled with a grin.

After graduating from the University of Hawaii, Kristy went back to Asia to help refugees fleeing the deadly Pol Pot regime. "I saw the fallout, saw what happens when you stand by and don't do anything and you know that people are suffering."

She came back grateful for this country's freedoms, and amazed at what others take for granted: "I was in awe of how nobody here had gratitude for law and order, for the right to say whatever you want. You can go to a cocktail party and say, 'The president's a mass murderer,' and not be in jail the next day."

"I don't get it now when I see these signs that say we're just as bad as Saddam Hussein. People don't have any idea what it's like. The hypocrisy of it all ... that's what bothers me."

Jim, too, draws on an old-fashioned loyalty, a fundamental faith that his country is trying hard to be all that it aspires to. He grew up in suburban Philadelphia, a high school quarterback who went to Dartmouth, then to Stanford for an MBA.

His dad had only a high school education, but worked his way up from construction worker to business owner and taught his kids that no dreams were beyond reach.

Jim took that to heart. After college, he and two partners started a software company. Two years ago, he sold that firm and began looking for ways to spread the benefits of technology to underserved communities.

The '90s, he said, were "like one long spring break. I worked my tail off, but the economy was booming and we could coast along. Like a lot of people, I had blinders on." Then the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked, and the blinders dropped.

"That made me take a step back.... I realized that things weren't just what I thought, in terms of being hunky-dory for us. We had some serious challenges."

Now that the war is underway, "The most useful thing any of us can do is pray that it's over as quickly as possible," he said Thursday. "And as painlessly."


NOTE: I was the captain of my high school football team, not the quarterback.


November 24, 2003 in Post 9/11 Era | Permalink

[Moses]

Naples Daily News
 <br>
URL: www.naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_3071807,00.html

Jim Hake Jr. formed Spirit of America in spring 2003 after reading about the experiences of U.S. Army Special Forces Sgt. Jay Smith, who was serving in Orgun-e, Afghanistan, a remote village about 20 miles from Pakistan.[/size]

Collier man's son forms charity to help out in Iraq

By LAURA LEBEAU, [e-mail]
July 28, 2004

Jim Hake Jr. knows what America stands for and what it has to offer.

Prior to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the technology and media industry businessman, husband and father of two lived life in Los Angeles like many Americans.

"It was a wakeup call," he said. "Like much of the country, I thought things were going well and wasn't aware of any external threats to America and the freedoms it symbolizes."

After the attacks, Hake wanted to do something to help, something perhaps inspired by his father, longtime Pelican Bay resident Jim Hake Sr.

A Navy Seabee serving overseas during World War II, the elder Hake is part of what's known as the "Greatest Generation."

Barbara Bongard, the younger Hake's sister, said she remembers him reading about the "Greatest Generation" after 9-11 and saying he wanted to do something that would make a difference, like Dad did.

Today, Hake is the founder of Spirit of America, a nonprofit organization that helps Americans — military and civilian — serving abroad to improve the lives of people in need.

Hake formed Spirit of America in spring 2003 after reading about the experiences of U.S. Army Special Forces Sgt. Jay Smith, who was serving in Orgun-e, Afghanistan, a remote village about 20 miles from Pakistan.

Smith and other soldiers from his team donated time and equipment sent from home in North Carolina, which gradually resulted in the formation of two Little League baseball teams for the youngsters and an improved perception of American forces.

Hake said, through baseball, the community formed close and positive relationships with the soldiers.

"It was practical and it made an impact," he said.

Spirit of America is making an impact using the same type of grass roots approach, Hake said.

"We're taking a big problem," he said, "and breaking it down into small, manageable pieces that can really make a difference.

"Having the people of Iraq and Afghanistan be successful is a really big deal," Hake said. "If not, we're going to be dealing with it for a long time. We need to be proactive and turn the tide for the future."

Spirit of America focuses on three areas of development: children; education and sports; and media and economics.

American military, foreign service and reconstruction personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan identify requests for goods that will help the local people, Hake said.

"By fulfilling requests through donors in the United States, we're demonstrating the goodwill of America. At the same time, we're helping the growth and well-being of the country and those charged with establishing and maintaining peace in the region," he added.

Spirit of America got under way after two successful pilot programs beginning in spring 2003.

By September 2003, those programs resulted in the purchase of 480 red, white and blue soccer jerseys with $5,085 from donations for people in Wassit province, in southern Iraq.

Additionally, 2,000 dental kits were purchased with $4,800 worth of donations for people in Al Hillah, Iraq, south of Baghdad, Hake said.

Spirit of America is able to purchase and deliver goods quicker than the traditional supply chain that takes so much time and effort, Hake said.

Individual donations can range from $5 to $50,000, he said. And FedEx provides free transportation.

Hake said Spirit of America continues to grow with increased visibility and more donations. Since 2003, the number of donors has increased from 1,000 to 10,000, he said. And money from donations went from $200,000 to $2 million.

Earlier this year, Spirit of America donated 10,000 school supply kits, three tons of medical supplies and two tons of Frisbees to be sent to the people of Iraq by way of the 1st Marine Division and a transport plane from Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Hake said through Spirit of America, equipment was purchased to upgrade seven Iraqi-owned TV stations in the Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. Much of the equipment has been delivered, he said, and technical training is being planned, along with Internet capability for continuing training assistance.

AT A GLANCE
For more information, or to sign up on the e-mail list, visit www.spiritofamerica.net. To make a monetary donation, call [phone]. All contributions to Spirit of America are tax-deductible. Marines and Navy Seabees are training Iraqi men in carpentry, electrical work, masonry and plumbing skills to help them rebuild their country and generate more income, Hake said.

So far, $60,000 has been raised to buy 300 sets of tools and tool belts for the men upon completion of the nine-week class.

About 100 men will receive their tool belts today as the first class graduates, Hake added.

Donations also are being accepted to purchase sewing machines for sewing centers established in the Ramadi-Fallujah region. The centers will provide women with a chance for economic development and a way to make affordable clothes for poor Iraqis, Hake said.

Hake said two centers have been established with the money raised so far. Spirit of America's Web site lists each sewing machine at $475 each, but any amount of money can be donated for the purchase.

These and other current requests can be seen on the Spirit of America Web site at www.spiritofamerica.net.

A program, School Partners, will launch in September, Hake said, which will allow students in participating Iraqi and American schools to communicate and share experiences with each other.

Hake said young Iraqis knowing support and encouragement is behind them can make a big difference.

The main thing, Hake said, is there's a real opportunity for Americans to see Iraq turn out well. Involvement from the United States is reason for hope.

"This isn't political and it's not meant to be," he said.

"We have people from all political boundaries, pro-war and anti-war, and they tell us they're happy to have a chance to give their support by contributing to a cause that can have such a meaningful impact," he said.

For more information, or to sign up on the e-mail list, visit www.spiritofamerica.net. To make a monetary donation, call [phone]. All contributions to Spirit of America are tax-deductible.

Copyright 2004, Naples Daily News. All Rights Reserved.

[Moses]

Brit Blaser: www.blaserco.com/blogs/2004/05/31.html

---

"Marc Danziger, a.k.a. the "Armed Liberal" Web logger, supported the war in Iraq. Britt Blaser, a Howard Dean campaign adviser, did not.
Yet they agree on at least one thing about that Middle Eastern nation's struggle: However right or wrong America's official policy may be, Americans should do what we can to help Iraqis.

---

Marc Danziger got started by coordinating volunteers to fulfill the requests, and now he's involved full time, directing all aspects of SoA as Chief Operating Officer. Jeff Jarvis hooked me up with Marc last week, in the hope that I can help them copy the parts of the Dean campaign that worked right – specifically the mechanics of a grassroots campaign using the strawberry roots hierarchical model I discussed recently.

Like all of us, Jeff feels strongly about this, moving mountains behind the scenes. He is a buzz machine. Read Jeff's take here.

America Actually Coming Together

America Coming Together is doing important work to offset the advantages that corporate America has built to ensure that their corporate form of person dominates our carbon-based form of person. In practice, ACT brings together those who feel abandoned or embarrassed by this administration. ACT's purpose is to bury the corporate-based government it despises under a landslide of aroused progressives and outraged conservatives. But it's largely a negative form of energy.

---

Marc is a tech consultant and soccer dad in the L.A area, who took to this project like he was born for it. He stepped up and became active coordinatng volunteers. He was so active that he and Jim Hake had a little heart-to-heart and now Marc Danziger is coordinating SoA's day-to-day operations.

[Moses]

gmapalumni.org/chapomatic/index.php?cat=3

Post-Event Recap
I’ve revised and expanded the above text a little. I’m back from the event with SoA. It was held at the Loew’s Hotel in Santa Monica, a rather chichi spot for a meeting and right across from RAND. The emotions were rather high, as some of the people present were long time commenters over at Iraq the Model. Omar and Mohammed were in good spirits after so much whirlwind travel, and were very casually dressed. My wife had to gently dissuade a young woman, an elementary school teacher, from trying to get a photo with them because Jim Hake had asked for no photos–I don’t think the teacher really knew the risk these guys were taking to be here.

Some more about Omar and Mohammed
Both hadn’t been out of the country before, and day 1 in the United States they get dragged to a surprise meeting at the White House! Sounds like they’re getting good support from the Spirit of America folks, and aren’t being merely used as talking puppets by the organization. Blackfive was right; these are humble guys. (Roger Simon has more from these two.)

Both are highly aware of the examples of Japan and Germany as economic powerhouses from their WWII defeat. I think they’re going to have a chance to really make that happen in Iraq.

I asked Omar later in the evening about changing times–because people thrust into interesting times become special, they change. What will happen to you as a person?

Omar said he’d rather stay a dentist. I paraphrase: “My hope is that I can just live a normal life. I’d love to just work as a dentist, I really love to be a dentist, and I’d like to just go home and relax and watch soccer on TV and have a quiet evening with my family. That’s what we want.”<br>
I agree.

---

Next Stop, San Francisco
There is one more stop on their tour, and that is I think tomorrow in San Francisco. If you’re nearby I recommend you check it out.

My Conclusion
When you saw the cross-section of people in the room you saw that this event felt like a real underground movement supporting the Iraqis in new and interesting ways. (There were at least five people there from RAND, inclusing active duty fellows; there were teachers, bloggers, ex-military, businessmen.) Spirit of America has figured out how to use funding sources, logistics nodes, and delivery systems that had not previously been tapped in a systemic way.

Update:
–Kesher Talk points to a roundup of links for the SoA tour.
–Stan Tillinghast reports on the S.F. event:


There is a Spirit of America luncheon at the Garden Court Hotel, Palo Alto, 520 Cowper Street, from 12 to 1:30 with Omar and Mohamed, the Lt Col and Jim Hake.

The SoA blogger challenge is, of course, here.
–Patterico was there as well, that dog; I didn’t get to thank him for his work.

Thanks for linking, everyone! This just seemed to be important information to put out.