By Dennis Box, The Courier-Herald

Dave Weitzel sits down about 8:30 every morning after breakfast and has a friendly chat with friends. That may not sound unusual, except his friends are in Iraq.

The former Bonney Lake city administrator turns his computer on, plugs in the camera and microphone and enters an Internet cafe in Al Kut where friends he made during his five-month stay in Iraq are huddled around a computer.

Weitzel is in the beginning stages of a pilot project aimed at offering Internet classes on local government management to the Iraqis.

The International City/County Management Association sent Weitzel to Iraq from August until December of 2003 to teach the Iraqis local government administration. He taught classes on the basic nuts and bolts of setting up a local government, city administration, management and ethics. Weitzel noted that under the rule of Saddam Hussein there was no local government; all activities were controlled from Baghdad.

Since Weitzel's return he has been working on his Internet classroom program. He has a group of dedicated students in Iraq who meet him each morning and discuss everything from schools to shots in the night to their future dreams.

Last Thursday's session included Ahmed Ali Hussein, a 25-year-old senior at Baghdad University studying computer software engineering. Ahmed speaks excellent English and has a bounding curiosity of his new world - a place more hopeful and more complex.

"Before we had no hope," said Ahmed, considering the course of his life after he graduates from college. "Now it is very complicated. Since Saddam's overthrow I must think seriously on these matters. I want to work with a communications company and I have a dream of continuing my studies in America or finding online classes. My dream is to go abroad and travel around the world. I think it would be a great dream to see me climbing the tower in Paris or standing near the base of Big Ben in London."

Along side Ahmed at the Internet café was Ali Hussein Jabir, a 45-year-old man who broadcasts an FM radio program in Baghdad.

Ali worked in radio and television in the early 1990s after graduating from college with a bachelor's degree in communications.

"I had problems with the previous regime," Ali said. "I had a job in 1992 in a radio and TV station. I was told to go to work in Baghdad at a radio station managed by Uday Hussein. I knew of one broadcaster who made a simple mistake and Uday had him sent to jail and tortured for months. I decided to leave the station and that gave me many problems with the regime."

After Saddam's government collapsed, Ali wasted little time getting back on the air. His radio program debut was last June celebrating Iraq's New Year and future. The program contains songs and news about current events taking place in the city.

It also features city managers and administrators describing what they do and answering questions posed by listeners.

"I think the program has had a good effect on our society and the people," Ali said. "We are trying to add new content, important items and we do issues like the effect of roses on human feelings."

Weitzel noted that Ali is shaping his radio show to meet the needs of his community.

"The whole issue of public service is new and they know it," Weitzel said. "Before, if people had a question they just shot them. The Iraqis have known all along what the problems are, they just needed the encouragement."

A significant part of Ali's radio program is dedicated to encouraging people to go back to school and rediscover the rich history of Iraq.

"Iraq is a very civilized country and very old," Ali said. "We've always had a long and proud history. Some of the first laws in the world came from Iraq. But we need to include the new technology in our curriculum at the schools to build a new Iraq."

Ali is also an accomplished musician, playing the oud, guitar and piano. He hopes his show will inspire an artistic movement that will blossom in Iraq.

"The people have been very poor," Ali said. "Composing and artistic movements have been very late. I am trying to bring art and music composition back."

Amidst their hopes and dreams, Ahmed and Ali are critically aware of the potential dangers around every corner, beneath every bridge, waiting at every intersection.

"We're better off now that Saddam is gone," Ali said "If the USA achieves all the policies that are promised, then we will be a Democratic government; if not there will be civil war. There are many currents in Iraq, many outside movements trying to decide our government. We should expect these problems will come from many directions."

By 11 a.m. PST, it was 7 p.m. in Al Kut. Darkness had descended. Ali and Ahmed had to sign off because of the danger of being on the streets after dark. Such is life in Iraq.

"It is most important to be able to live in a happy way," Ahmed said as he signed off from the Internet café. "Goodbye friend and take care of yourself."

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox @courierherald.com