On Thursday, August 14th, Common Cause International director Lauren Coletta hosted a delegation of Iraqi students in order to discuss everything from politics to cowboys. She invited interns Jana Kwaji, Jamie McConkey and Tristan Schulhof to join in on the dialogue.

The meeting began with an explanation of Common Cause's role as a political watchdog and how it attempts to hold our power accountable. Afterwards, the conversation moved to Common Cause's role in the international stage and how we are organizing a delegation to Iran in order to improve U.S.-Iranian relations. Jana, Jamie and Tristan were also able to discuss their work with Common Cause and what brought them to the organization. What was interesting was that many of the students told us that they did not have internships in Iraq. Hopefully they can become some of the first interns in Iraq, and maybe one day, come to intern for us.

Whilst we were able to give an insight into the kind of issues upon which we campaign, namely campaign finance reform and electoral practice, their account of everyday life in Iraq since 2003 was truly striking and, frankly, a little humbling.

One student told us how her life had become defined by the security imperatives which come with sectarian violence. "I wake up, I go to school, I come home and do not stay out" she said regretfully. Another spoke of the decline in violence over the past two years. "In 2006 I would hear several explosions a day. There are far fewer now".

We found it surprising that there was a general support for the presence of American and coalition troops in the country. US troops, they said, should remain in the country until the Iraqi security forces can handle their task themselves.