11:00 A.M. EST

MR. DENIG: Well, good morning to everyone and welcome. It's good to have you here. I particularly want to issue a very warm welcome to our guests from Iraq, the Fulbright grantees. I will just briefly introduce them to you. You have their bios in front of you. The first one, to my furthest left, is Luma Ateyah; the second one is Rawand Darwesh; the third is Muhammed Mohammed; and the fourth is Abdul Zahra Jassim Muhamad. We're absolutely delighted to have them here for this conversation.

I'm also very pleased that my colleague, Thomas Farrell, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the State Department, is able to be with us. His particular office is the one that has, for these many years, run the Fulbright program which is an absolutely wonderful program that has enriched the lives of both young Americans and young foreigners. So we're delighted to have him here, as well. What I will do now is I will ask each one of the Fulbright grantees to make a few opening remarks. At the absolute beginning I'll ask Tom Farrell to make some remarks on the Fulbright Program, then each one of the grantees, and then we'll proceed with our discussion.

MR. FARRELL: Thank you, Paul. It's a pleasure to be with you this morning. I've had the good fortune to be with the Fulbright students and one of the Fulbright scholars since Sunday, when they arrived in Washington, and it's been a wonderful experience for me.

As many of you know, because I recognize your faces from the briefing that Assistant Secretary Harrison gave a few weeks ago, Thomas, the Fulbright exchange is the oldest and most prominent exchange program sponsored by the United States Government and 150 partner governments and nations around the world.

In fact, with the beginning of the renewal of the U.S. - Iraq Fulbright program, it's now 151 partnerships that we have around the world. The Fulbright program with Iraq was suspended in the academic year 1989-1990, so it's been 14 years since we've had a Fulbright exchange, and we are delighted that it has resumed with vigor and with such high quality participants.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues in the Foreign Service, and from other areas of the government, who were assigned to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, for putting on such a superb national competition that publicized the program all over Iraq and drew participants from various parts of the country.

We, not only is the Fulbright program a completion of a broken circle of exchange that was first established in 1951, broken '89 and '90, and now made whole. But it's also historic because the Fulbright program is premised on joint priority setting, so it's a historic moment when the people of Iraq, the Iraqi leadership and institutions like the major universities, can sit down with Americans and decide on not only in the selection of candidates, but joint priorities. And the Fulbright program in Iraq concentrated on critical areas such as public health, English teaching, law, economics, journalism and the environment. Those were fields, we felt, this year were very important.

And I'll be happy to take other questions, but I think the real story here are the students and our scholar, and I'd like to turn it over to them, Paul.

MR. DENIG: Very good. So if I could ask Luma Ateyah to say a few words, please.
If you could, please make a few opening remarks about what you hope to get out of your year here in the United States and perhaps what you intend to do with what you have learned and experienced once you're back in Iraq.

MS. ATEYAH: Okay, so I'm specialized in English and English Literature, in particular, and I'd like to take more courses so that when I go back to my country, I would work not only in teaching, but in other things, especially in developing relations between the people of the United States and people of Iraq to create more harmony and to help developing Iraq. Okay?

MR. DENIG: Thank you.

Rawand Darwesh.

MR. DARWESH: Thank you very much. First of all, I would like to thank our American friends for reopening the Fulbright program in Iraq. Actually, it was a very great hope when we all applied. Many, many people were very much enthusiastic, and they heard about this program long ago, before the second Gulf War. And when it was reopened, it was a very great chance for everybody to apply because first, this program will help the Iraqi students to come to the United States, acquire the knowledge, and then when they go back to apply it there in Iraq. Thank you very much.

MR. DENIG: Thank you.

Next, Muhammed Mohammed.

MR. MOHAMMED: Hi. It's good to have you here, all. First I would like to thank everybody for doing this and also I'm going to study English here, hopefully, as a foreign language. And from the very beginning, I was looking forward to getting this chance to get in the States, and not only in the States, I mean, just to get a scholarship to feel that I, I'm going to do something for my country, in first place in my home city, and second, which really needs a good teaching staff, and it really has gone through so many sufferings like -- made us feel that we to do something, make up for that and be in the future Iraq. And just, even if it's a little part of that reconstruction, we just have to make something for it.

MR. DENIG: Very good. Thank you. And finally, Abdul Zahra Jassim Muhamad.

MR. MUHAMAD: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about myself. In fact, I am coming here to study translation and to give some lectures about Arabic language to the Americans who are studying Arabic. Then, I want to develop my skills in the English language and to improve my language, my translation skills, and to carry that experience to my students in the University of Kufa, where I live there.

In fact, I want to play the role of a cultural ambassador to my city, to my country, Iraq, and to let the Americans know everything about Iraq. I'm sure that they have a lot of questions about Iraq right now, and there is a lot of misunderstanding about the situation in Iraq, about the Iraqi people attitudes, so I'm going to explain that whenever I have the opportunity to do so. And then I want to make mutual understanding between the two peoples of Iraq and the United States. Okay, thank you.

MR. DENIG: Good. A great ambition, lots of work, and an excellent way to start.

Now I'd like to open it up to our journalist colleagues for your questions and once again ask you if you would please use the microphone and introduce yourself and your news organization. Thank you.

QUESTION: I'm Stephanie Ho with the Voice of America, English Newsroom.

I just wanted to ask all of you, I guess this is just to open it up, I mean, what what were your first -- what were your impressions of the United States when you were back in Iraq, and what have you -- what's the most interesting thing that you've learned since you've been here. I know you just got here over the weekend, but what was the most interesting observation you've had?

MS. ATEYAH: Okay. Well, it was a dream of me to come to the United States, you see. So actually, when I was in Iraq I had an idea about authority. And then I came and found that everything's fine, the Americans are so friendly and kind, everything was easy and, you know, I didn't have any special kind of impression because I already have an idea about this.

QUESTION: What sort of idea, though? I mean, I know you were a big fan of Duran Duran.

(Laughter.)

MS. ATEYAH: No, those are British, not Americans.

QUESTION: Right. Right. No, I know. I can relate.

MS. ATEYAH: Oh, okay.

QUESTION: So, I'm sympathetic here. So, but I mean, what sort of impressions did you have? Or what did you think America was going to be like? Or what were your biggest impressions of America, and when did, you know, --

MS. ATEYAH: Well, I think it's this country in which you may acquire knowledge, okay, or, you know, to be, okay, say -- knowledge in everything, to see the whole world, and you know, I think that the USA is the best country to acquire knowledge about people and culture.

So to travel to USA, after traveling to many countries around the world, is to -- because we can see many differences among people in culture and color of skin and religions -- many, many things, you see? And I believe that the reason why people are divided into these divisions is to make (inaudible) between them, to become, you know, acquainted to one another, you see.

So I want that kind of variation between people, and something nice, I think, something fine to stay here, for these two and a half years, when I’m going to study for a Master Degree. I'm going to acquire or to get that degree, but not only in my specialization as English Literature, but I'm going to learn many other things.

QUESTION: But in, in your first few days here, what sort of -- what sort of impressions --

MS. ATEYAH: In a few days?

QUESTION: Yeah, your -- I mean, you -- I know you arrived in the states over the weekend. What sort of impressions, I mean, what was the most striking thing?

A PARTICIPANT: The cold.

(Laughter.)

MR. FARRELL: Too much potatoes.

QUESTION: Too cold is great.

A PARTICIPANT: Snow.

MS. ATEYAH: I think kind of, just the kind of impression. You see, I already had an idea about it, so I didn't find anything different, actually. Okay.

MR. DARWESH: Thank you very much. I just wanted to remind you that I came to study journalism here, Masters Degree in Journalism.

Actually, the first impression I got about the United States was the cultural and ethnic diversity of the people here. I found a rich diversity of people coming from everywhere in the world. And they are all busy, all they are happy. They are busy with their works, and that nobody thinks about ethnic problems. Nobody thinks about racisms. It's all a very nice and democratic country, so actually, when we open the TVs in our hotel rooms, we find the elections campaign, and this election process in the United States is extremely unique in the world because, you know, every four years you come, that a party just removes the most powerful president of the world democratically, by elections, and comes to power.

This is very unique of the United States, and we hope that -- my impression is that one day, everywhere in the world, they just benefit from this democratic system in the United States and that election be the basis of everything.

But actually, of course, we must not forget the cultural shock. Many of you from the Middle East, you know that we consume a lot of rice there, and so far we did not eat rice [here]. (Laughter.) And, of course, it’s a little bit colder here and the food is also a bit different, but it's all a nice, new experiment for all of us. Thank you.

MR. MOHAMMED: For me, it's quite, I think I put it in this way: I mean, educationally, it's the most exciting experience I am having now because I feel, if not all, most of my dreams are coming true by studying in the United States and getting a Master's in one of the, let's say, the knowledgeable places in the world.

And culturally, I can't really judge now, but just as I have received and we've been really taken care of from the beginning, from Baghdad until we got into the States and then hopefully, until we are going to start our studies and therefore the pre-academic courses.

And I can’t just judge the cultural environment or the culture or people because I haven't gotten into the culture so far. So my first impression is just like -- it's really a new world for me. I mean, it's really a new experience for me, and I'll just try my best to take the chance and enjoy it.

MR. MUHAMAD: Well, the first impression for me is maybe quite a little bit different from the others who were surprised by the warm receiving by the Americans everywhere and to discover that they are very kind and well organized in everything.

They are trying their best to do everything which might make, which we might make use of it, and they are trying to help us. And the other impression that we discovered, that America is a multinational people and they are tolerant to each other regardless of their race, religion and other distinctions.

So I'm going to acquire as much as I can of this experience and to convey it to my people and to my country. Thank you.

MR. DENIG: Thank you. Okay, another journalist. Thomas.

QUESTION: I'm Thomas Gorguissian with An Nahar of Lebanon.

First of all, my question -- maybe Tom [Farrell] will answer it. But it's about the period that they are going to spend here, and if it's going to be another group of people, because I see from the paper that you gave, it is 379 people applied just for the English language exam, and these people are 22 in number, right?

MR. FARRELL: 25.

QUESTION: 25. How long they are going to stay, and is any other group is coming or you are planning to do another group? This is my first question.

MR. FARRELL: Okay. There are 25 people, so there's 25 individual answers, but on average, they will stay for two years for Master's-level study. And prior to entering the university where they will begin their Master's-level study --

QUESTION: -- which are the list of the Santa Cruz and all this?

MR. FARRELL: Yeah. They'll be at Santa Cruz, Indiana University, whatever. And they'll be in a period of English improvement and learning about the U.S. academic culture -- except for the two scholars. They'll be going very quickly to the University of Texas at Austin and Ohio University because they actually will be doing teaching and research and have a more developed sense of their independence. So as I said, everything's different.

This was a competition. 379 people passed the threshold to qualify and these --

QUESTION: The TOEFL. The TOEFL, right? The TOEFL exam?

MR. FARRELL: Yes. But they had prepared their documents beforehand, as well.

So the selection committee chose what, in their wisdom, they considered to be the best 25. So there'll be other competitions, but there'll be a new set of candidates. And the U.S. to Iraq Fulbright program, we consider it restarted, so every year there will be a new competition, new students and scholars coming. And --

QUESTION: So this is for this year now?

MR. FARRELL: This is for this group that I'm with.

This group has been so successful, and the competition was so popular that we are providing two other initiatives. So in February and March there will be another group of Fulbright students coming whose primary responsibility will be to teach Arabic language at smaller U.S. colleges and universities. We have this program going with Fulbright in Morocco, with Egypt, and in Jordan. So it's very important in the development of U.S. understanding of the Near Eastern region that we work on Arabic learning for Americans. So there will be another group of Fulbrighters, probably six or seven, coming as teachers.

And then in the summer, there will be some Iraqi Fulbrighters coming for short-term programs to study U.S. institutions.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. FARRELL: And then we hope that -- sooner rather than later -- Fulbrighters from the United States will be going to Iraq.

QUESTION: About the composition of this group of (inaudible) if you look. You have mentioned that they are public health and translation. Can you give us a distribution? I mean, like how many, I mean, because luckily, and/or unfortunately, those who are with us is just translation.

MR. FARRELL: Yes.

QUESTION: Or literature.

MR. DENIG: Or journalism.

QUESTION: Or journalism, yes. I mean, if they don't find job here, you can go there.

(Laughter.)

MR. FARRELL: Well, they're all going home. Yeah. Oh, if you don't find a job -- I thought -- okay.

(Laughter.)

QUESTION: Yeah. So what's your distribution?

MR. FARRELL: Okay. The distribution, I want to say in the beginning, was not decided beforehand. The Americans and the Iraqis decided on the important fields, and we are talking about Literature, Philology, Linguistics, but in fact the field that we considered to be important with the Iraqis was the issue of communication, English communication. So that's what we think of. We think of it more as English teaching. [Second,] there are, I believe, seven medical professionals who have received their medical degree. We would call them doctors.

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR. FARRELL: And they'll be working in the area of public health on the -- in Masters in Public Health on the Fulbright. And one of the doctors -- medical doctors -- will be working in the area of environment and ecology.

QUESTION: That's fine.

MR. FARRELL: So how many do we have so far? Seven, and then --

QUESTION: Seven medical doctors

MR. FARRELL: Seven medical, eight --

QUESTION: Two instructors.

MR. FARRELL: No. They're meant -- there are how many in -- you tell me.

A PARTICIPANT: Two journalists.

MR. FARRELL: Two journalists.

QUESTION: Two journalists.

A PARTICIPANT: Yeah, two journalists. (Off mike -- others?) Two lawyers.

QUESTION: There are lawyers.

MR. FARRELL: Two people involved --

A PARTICIPANT: Three lawyers.

(Off mike discussion.)

MR. DENIG: There are three lawyers.

MR. FARRELL: Who wants to give Thomas (laughter) --

QUESTION: The lawyers.

(Laughter.)

My question, though, I'm going to -- if you don't mind, I mean, for the journalists, what you want to learn here? I mean, and for the Literature people, I mean, you are saying that some of them, you are going to make a Master's. What is going to be your focus, if you have something in your mind?

And for my oldest colleague, I mean, it's like, you have five kids, I realize. I've --

MR. MUHAMAD: Don't tell the others.

QUESTION: It's good.

So what you think you can get from here to there to those five kids?

MR. MUHAMAD: The fact is, you know, translation deals with language, and language is the container of culture everywhere. And as long as culture is something important in language and translation, I have to be in close touch with the American, the American people who speaks this language -- I mean the English language -- and to understand how do they behave, how do they use the language, what are their habits, customs, I have to know everything on the ground. You see? In order, that's why I translate, I have a broad mind about the language and the culture here.

This is what I am looking for here. And in addition to that, I am going to improve my language, my English language.

A PARTICIPANT: (Off mike) You are speaking good English.

MR. MUHAMAD: Sorry?

QUESTION: You are speaking good English (inaudible). (Laughter.)

MR. DENIG: All right, let's hear from our journalist.

MR. DARWESH: Of course, regarding journalism, it's very important to mention one point, and that is when I came to the United States, I had an idea, but here I saw there is no ministry or governmental department which supervises the media and the journalistic staff establishment – [instead] a free journalism society, free to speak, free to express your ideas.

This is very important and, of course, I am coming from my country in Iraq. Of course, in Iraq, I don't want to say that it was -- look at it from one angle. Iraq, actually, was over the past 14 years was divided into two parts, a part governed by the former dictator of the regime, Saddam Hussein, and another part in the Northern Kurdistan area was free and separate from the Iraq centralized government.

In [the] Iraq run by Saddam Hussein, the government was supervising the media. There were only few newspapers, all contained the same news, all contained the same idea, all contained the same Baath party poison ideology.

In the north, we had free press, okay, though it was controlled by the political process at that time, but there was free -- for the people to express, publish their articles. There were also private newspapers. So what I am coming here to learn is how the system of free press and free journalism works in the United States and how I shall, hopefully, try to benefit from this system of free press and journalism and apply it there in Iraq. This is my idea.

QUESTION: Thanks.

MR. DENIG: Did you have a question?

QUESTION: I do have a question. I've been raising my hand.

(Laughter.)

MR. DENIG: All right.

QUESTION: She is hiding.

QUESTION: I'm Lisa Thomas from Kyodo News, for Mr. Farrell. How did you arrive at the number 25 in the first place? I didn't attend the other briefings, so I'm sorry if you have to repeat this.

MR. FARRELL: I'll be very frank with you. The number 25 had to do with the amount of money we had available. You know, Ambassador Bremer said last summer to several people that he wanted the Fulbright program to run. And our Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs had already obligated all our money for the year when he said this.

So Assistant Secretary Harrison in the Bureau literally pulled bits of money from one program or another, and we came up with $1.2 million to pay for the program. And if you look at the costs associated -- all the costs associated, plus the travel and everything -- 25 was a number we felt we could accommodate.

QUESTION: And will this be increasing so that you can expand the program at the first of the year?

MR. FARRELL: I deeply hope that it will increase. I would personally like to see the Iraqi-U.S. Fulbright Program be a major, let's say, a major player, a major element in leadership development in Iraq and in mutual understanding between the United States and Iraq.

At this time, we have a number of participants probably equal to the number of Fulbrighters that come from Egypt, and the U.S. and Egypt enjoy a very mature, longstanding relationship. And I would certainly like to see the Egyptian number grow, too. But I'd like to see the number of Iraqis grow and I would also, as soon as possible, like to see Americans benefiting from the exchange in Iraq.

QUESTION: And one more question. Also, what channels are used in order to publicize the program and increase awareness for other applicants other than the ones who have previously heard about it, or how are you trying to draw diversity in the applicant pool?

MR. FARRELL: Okay, we used a number of avenues. And I also want to impress upon your listeners or readers in the Kyodo News Service, you know, in Japan, it would take us a year. It would take a year to produce a group of Japanese Fulbright students to come here. In Iraq, the CPA officials did it in three months.

QUESTION: Why?

MR. FARRELL: They used the various CPA outlets. There were what we would call public diplomacy staff in 18 of the governorates -- the district provinces of Iraq -- and those people had Fulbright applications, and they also put information out in media outlets, radio, local papers. The CPA used its website. University leaders were informed all over the country about the program, and they were asked to recommend students to apply.

So that was the basics of outreach. A number of people who had found out, also, working and meeting Americans and members of the CPA, because this was something very exciting for Americans working with Iraq, so they would tell some of their Iraqi colleagues to tell their children or other people. So there was word of mouth.

I will tell you one of the key areas we are working on in the next competition is to work in southern Iraq, because we have relied quite a bit on Internet and we have this very strong sense that there are better ways of communicating in the southern part of the country than relying on Internet and websites. So we'll be doing more outreach in southern Iraq. Does that help?

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. DENIG: Okay. Samir, I think you have your --

MR. FARRELL: Could you (inaudible)?

MR. DENIG: And introduce yourself.

QUESTION: I'm Samir Nader, with Radio Sawa. I would like to ask you when they are accepted for the scholarship program, do they have to sign a contract that they must return back home?

MR. FARRELL: That's a very good question. What every Fulbright student, scholar and teacher knows that this is a program for mutual understanding; and not only for the individual involved, but for the nation they represent, whether it's the United States or Iraq, or Lebanon, or the United Kingdom.

And the Fulbright participant is given her document that says, "This is the amount of money you are going to receive. This is where you will be studying. These are the elements of the scholarship program." And before they travel -- because this is a people-to-people program and it represents the nation of the United States of America and Iraq -- we ask every Fulbrighter to say, "Yes, I agree to return to my homeland for at least two years of residency in my home country."

So I don't know if you call it a contract, but certainly do, before they --

QUESTION: Commitment. Commitment.

MR. FARRELL: Commitment to return to their homeland for a minimum of two years.

MR. DENIG: In fact, Thomas, I can add, that two-year requirement, if you will, is actually worldwide.

QUESTION: Yeah, it's world.

MR. FARRELL: Yeah, yeah. He knows.

(Laughter.)

QUESTION: My name is Khaled Dawoud, I'm from the Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper. I was just -- one thing which, which Luma wrote is that you made an American flag and that you wanted -- he also made 51 stars and one for Iraq. And I was wondering whether everybody in the group shares this? I mean would you want to see Iraq an extra star on the American flag?

A PARTICIPANT: Great. Could you just clarify yourself? We didn't get your idea.

QUESTION: You know, I'm just --

A PARTICIPANT: No, first -- first of all, we want Luma to explain the idea --

MS. ATEYAH: Oh, okay, yes. No that's not a (inaudible).

QUESTION: I mean, how would average Iraqis, the people, and average Iraqi newspaper and say I want Iraq to be an extra 51st --

MS. ATEYAH: To be quite in honest with you, media is something quite different from what people think, you see? So I'll try to clarify the idea for them. When the American troops used to be available in our streets, you see, and we would welcome them just like waving our hands, saying hello to them. So I try to do something different. I tried to assure them that we do receive them with flowers, because they liberated us, you see?

So I made the flag, an American flag. I bought some red, white and blue fabric, you see, and I sewed a flag. And when I was making the embroidery of the stars, of course, the USA will have 50 states, 50 stars, okay? But I wish -- I think that to be an Iraqi, it's not something like a privilege better than being something from a different kind of the world, because all people are created from the same material.

And something else that -- to belong to the States is something great for us, you see? To belong to the USA, frankly, is something wonderful for the development of Iraq. So why should we seek to be Arabs or to belong just to the Arab nation? Why don't we belong to something great like the USA? I made 51 stars and then I put some flowers on the flag so that any American sees the flag, with that flag they do something like this, you see? So that was my idea about the flag. To belong to the USA is, frankly, something fine, so fine with that. And now he's asking, do you agree with me, that you belong to the USA?

(Laughter.)

MR. DARWESH: Actually, she's a bit difficult Iraqi citizen. (Laughter.)

Let me tell it frankly. I personally think that what she has done was something metaphorical for that -- for it's important for Iraq to acquire this democratic system in the United States and then from the science and technology and good relations and bring it to Iraq. So it was something like a metaphorical presentation, and what she has done was something very, very good, and a good answer --

MS. ATEYAH: Thank you.

MR. DARWESH: -- so don’t apologize to some Arab media outlets, for they don't portray the facts in Iraq. They always -- they portray the negative sides of the liberation of Iraq. They say, "Well, a U.S. soldier was killed and it was like that by the Iraqi resistance and I don't know why." Actually, it's not like that, sir.

MS. ATEYAH: They concentrate -- sorry for interruption -- but they concentrate on some terrorist-like remnants of [the] Saddam [regime], you see? They concentrate on the exceptional --

QUESTION: You mean the media within Iraq?

MR. DARWESH: No, the Arab media. I have to admonish the Arab media for this. I said the same thing in Jordan for a (inaudible) newspaper, and they did not publish any word of mine. I told them, "Why do you always exaggerate what's happening in Iraq?" I told him that it has never been the habit of the Iraqi people to detonate himself. This is an important culture.

Now we are telling you that Iraq has become a front in the war on terrorism. The Iraqi people are participating in that war against terrorism and that's why they are paying the tax. A few days ago in Erbil, they killed a large number of senior officials and a lot of people who went to democratically congratulate them on the occasion of the aid. So what she has done was something very, very good and nice and represents --

MS. ATEYAH: Thank you.

MR. DARWESH: -- represents the Iraqi people's will to make good relations with United States and benefit from them culturally, scientifically and democratically.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: For (inaudible), the journalist.

(Laughter.)

MR. DARWESH: I'm sorry. I guess --

MS. ATEYAH: What do you mean? I'm a criminal?

(Laughter.)

Do you mean I'm a criminal? So I need the lawyer? I don't need a lawyer.

(Laughter.)

MR. DARWESH: Sorry. Sir, you are from the Kurdish Service of the Voice of America.

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. DARWESH: And you may know better than that that the Kurdistani society is highly politicized, okay, because of the suppression, okay, because of the mass killing, because of the chemical bombardment, the use of weapons of mass destruction against our people. You know better than me what happened in Halabja and Balistan, okay? And some part, in Bazinan, you know very well what happened.

QUESTION: Yes, I did.

MR. DARWESH: And that's why even -- you find the children in Iraqi Kurdistan and in Iraq, even there, they speak about politics because they have seen the injustice done by them by the former dictator regime and that's why I totally agree with my friend.

MS. ATEYAH: Thank you.

MR. DENIG: Okay. Let's hear from Muhammed Mohammed.

MR. MOHAMMED: Well, I might agree with her as a kind of, something like a reaction for what she's been -- I mean, just as an Iraqi and especially from the middle, because we, as Kurds, we might have got liberated well in advance before our Arab brothers. But as a reaction, it's quite normal to act, I mean, hysterically and you don't know how to express your happiness or whatever. You make an additional star to the American flag or whatever.

But as a reality, I might not agree with her to [add] another extra star to the American flag because what the Americans did was just to liberate Iraq, not to invade Iraq and make it another additional star --

MS. ATEYAH: I didn't say this is invasion. But this is just a dream. But they are not invading us. They are liberating us, and it's --

MR. MOHAMMED: Yeah, I know. I know. I just have my own view on that, so it's not something like to occupy Iraq or add it as the 51st state, because they only have so many states and they might grow out of control. (Laughter.)

So I might say it in this way: It's kind of a good feeling to have the Americans liberate Iraq and to have this mutual understanding between the U.S. Government and future Iraqi government. And this makes the whole thing clear that in the period of one or two years, we might see the fruit of the American liberation of Iraq and we might see the Iraqis, how they are going to be, having their own government and having their own entity.

MR. DENIG: Do you have something?

QUESTION: Because I'm sure that there is a generation gap.

(Laughter.)

MR. MUHAMAD: Regardless of the fact that we are grateful to the United States for the liberating of Iraq from the old regime, I mean from Saddam regime, while still Iraqis -- and we are proud of being Iraqis -- if we are to belong to a state, we belong to Iraq, and secondly, we belong to the Arab nation and to Islam as well.

So I absolutely, I would completely disagree to be one of the stars on the American flag. This is -- I can't understand it, I mean, how -- we are Iraqis, we have our flag, we have our nation, we have our culture and our civilization and we are very proud of that. And as the Americans are proud of their flag and their civilization, we are very proud of our heritage and our civilization.

MR. DENIG: Okay. Thank you.

QUESTION: I have a question. I mean, I'm not just going to ask -- just clarify.

MR. DENIG: Okay.

QUESTION: When did you say this, and what was the occasion?

MS. ATEYAH: What was --

QUESTION: This flag thing. When did you say it and where did you say it? I mean, the question that my fellow asked, what happened, when happened, how it comes to this paper?

PARTICIPANT: The same as the liberation. It's here. The same day of the liberation.

MS. ATEYAH: The same day of liberation? Oh.

QUESTION: No, I mean how you say this.

MS. ATEYAH: I don't know -- thought was in Jordan, maybe?

(Off mike chatter.)

MR. MUHAMAD: Can I make a -- can I make a -- oh, it was a press --

MS. ATEYAH: But I didn't know that she -- or maybe she advised to my -- sorry, to my biography, maybe? Yes, because I made many interviews and I mentioned that for many times in different places and different times, you see?

QUESTION: No, I mean, just -- I am just trying to figure out when you --

MS. ATEYAH: So I don't know which one of them came here, you see?

MR. FARRELL: I guess it was in Jordan when she was talking.

MS. ATEYAH: I think it's, yes, maybe probably when --

MR. MUHAMAD: And by the way, we had to write a two-paragraph essay just to express ourselves. It might be --

QUESTION: Oh, okay.

MR. MUHAMAD: It might be that.

MR. DENIG: Okay, let me give our VOA Kurdish --

QUESTION: Okay, this is Dakhil Samoud from the Voice of America in the Kurdish Service. I'm happy to see the people from my country. I saw two Kurdish guys with them. I'm happy to see them and I hope -- I do have a question, but I hope you are getting here to study, but also you will be able to learn American or other people about your culture.

I see people from Sulaimania, Erbil, Baghdad, Najjaf, so I think also you have a very rich culture, so you have to be able to learn others about your culture. But I have very short question to Mr. Farrell.

Do you have any idea to open a center in Iraq or, I mean, to send America student to Iraq to learn the same idea of Fulbright?

MR. FARRELL: You see -- no, I don't have anything to do with that.

The last two Fulbrighters in Iraq, the last two who left Iraq were American Fulbrighters in the academic year of 1989-1990, so American students, scholars have always been part of the Iraq - U.S. Fulbright program, and when you say, "planning," we will have, God willing, an American component to the program. Whether that's in six months or not -- it will depend -- there are many Fulbright aspects to it, for instance, people in Iraq have talked with us about American specialists, academic leaders working in the university and with their colleagues on the Iraqi faculty or in Iraqi departments for maybe six-month -- six-week assignments, things like that.

But I don't have a specific date. We very much want to have students there, and then we're looking forward to the transition from CPA to an American Embassy and we're very pleased that the -- what should I call it? -- the process put in place by our colleagues in Baghdad and the various regions of Iraq will be able to -- will -- it's the same Fulbright process we use all over the world, so when the American Embassy opens, they'll use that process. The center would be the American Embassy, just as it is in, say, in Afghanistan or --

MR. DENIG: Germany, France --

MR. FARRELL: Germany, yeah.

QUESTION: Did the media talk about their meeting with the President yesterday?

MR. FARRELL: Not yet. Still to come?

MR. DENIG: Well, our time is running out, but if one of you wanted to comment just briefly on the meeting with the President, the discussion with the President, that would be good.

MR. MOHAMMED: Okay, I'm going to give you a brief of -- about our meeting with the President. For sure it was a great honor, and we might have been the first Fulbrighters who meet the President of the United States, and also, a greater honor to meet the Secretary, Mr. Secretary, the Secretary of State.

And, I mean, our table, it just was like one, like just was like that and the Mr. President was in the middle -- sitting at the middle of the table and we were having, really, a nice discussion. We asked him so many questions.

QUESTION: Like what?

MR. MOHAMMED: Like, some questions like for the future of Iraq, for the good of Iraqi people, and as usual, he gave us reasonable answers and he promised us that we are going to see a good future of Iraq and we, as it's expected, that Iraqi people will live the freedom and will taste the freedom and they will not get through the hard sufferings they already have.

MR. DENIG: All right. You want to add something briefly?

MR. DARWESH: Yeah, okay.

QUESTION: Journalistic approach. (Laughter.)

But for we, as students coming from Iraq, actually that day, other Fulbrighters in the Ronald Reagan Hall said, we are jealous of you because sitting in America's capital, sitting here, they did not receive us.

So we feel that we are very much honored by his reception. And I did not expect that he's so straightforward. He humbly talked with us, and answered our questions and told us to feel free to say anything, ask anything, and after that, what we did not expect, that we were just thinking about taking a group picture with him. Later he said, no, you come to the Oval Office and I will take a picture with each one of you.

So actually, we were embarrassed by his hospitality, and we just cannot find, pick words to thank him. And actually, it was history for us to meet the President of the United States of America in this way.

QUESTION: Did he take a picture of every single one in the Oval Office?

MR. DARWESH: In the Oval Office, yes. And this shows how the respect he has for us as Iraqis, in general.

A PARTICIPANT: By the way, he has a good sense of humor, as well.

MR. DARWESH: Of course.

MR. DENIG: Very good. Unfortunately the time limits require that we end our session, but I want to thank you, our Iraqi guests very much for coming. Again, I am delighted that you have this opportunity for yourselves, for your own lives, and then after that to contribute to your own countries.

I want to thank our colleagues, the journalists, for coming and I want to thank Tom Farrell also for coming and wish everyone the best.