Arizona Daily Star
July 6, 2008
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/247025.php
http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/5338
The UA will train college-age Iraqi students this summer on how to
help rebuild their war-torn country and lead it to stability.
Known as the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program, the training is
part of an effort to bring dozens of future leaders to college
campuses throughout the United States to learn about democracy and
gain the leader****p skills they'll need to become local and national
political leaders at home.
Despite the training being publicly announced by President Bush nearly
two years ago, and being funded by the U.S. State Department, the
program at the University of Arizona is somewhat of a secret.
Citing fears that insurgents in Iraq could retaliate against the
students or their families, officials at the UA and the non-profit
group that runs the program through a State Department grant wouldn't
reveal even the most basic details of the operation.
But if the program is a secret, it appears to be badly kept. Numerous
government and non-profit Web sites contain information about it, and
the UA's internal news organization wrote a lengthy and detailed
release describing it, too.
Fifteen to 20 students will arrive on campus in the coming weeks to
take part in a five-week program known as the New Technologies and
Contem****ary Issues Institute, which will be run through the UA's
Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the school of journalism,
according the UA news release.
The students will learn about multicultural issues in the Southwest,
including immigration and cultural identity. They also will tour
several of Arizona's natural wonders and receive information on
environmental issues relevant to Iraq, the release said.
One key component of the institute will be teaching the students how
to communicate with diverse and geographically disparate groups of
people via Web sites. They also will learn about social justice and
cooperative leader****p.
The Iraqi students will hang out with other college students and spend
a weekend with host families during their stay.
When asked to confirm the details in the UA release, Maggy Zanger, co-
director of the program and an associate professor with the journalism
school, wouldn't comment.
Officials with World Learning, a non-profit cultural exchange group
that runs the program under a grant from the State Department, also
wouldn't comment.
"We are seeking to exercise discretion in the publicizing of this
im****tant program due to ongoing security concerns within Iraq," John
Fox, a World Learning spokesman, wrote in an e-mail.
Repeated inquiries about the program went unreturned by State
Department officials.
Though there have been vocal critics of other exchange programs that
have been bringing Iraqis to the United States, there has been little
public debate about this one.
Critics have questioned the screening processes of the other programs,
but they lack the government collaboration of the Iraqi exchange
program.
In the UA news release, Christian Sinclair, co-director of the UA
institute and assistant director of the Center for Middle Eastern
Studies, said the training is designed to teach students im****tant
lessons while also enabling them to make an impact once they return to
Iraq.
"How do you get your voice heard?" Sinclair said in the university
release.
"How do you spread the word and get other people on board? It's about
training a new generation of leaders for Iraq. What we're doing is
citizen diplomacy, if you will."
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