Spirit of America is launching a new effort to promote democratic action in Iraq, through Iraqis who believe in their future as a free country.

The ‘Friends of Democracy‘ project aims to put the tools for democratic dialog into the hands of Iraqis who will use them in their own ways.

bq. We are supporting efforts by Iraqis inside Iraq that have two main goals: (1) increase voter participation in Iraq’s January 2 election; and (2) encourage the Iraqi people to make informed decisions on the candidates. Some of the projects that will be supported (with direct funding, equipment and technical assistance) under this initiative include:

* Production of radio and television Public Service Announcements by the Iraq Ministry of Women’s Affairs to encourage women to vote.

* Securing the rights to and subtitling in Arabic documentaries about elections in post-dictatorship countries for broadcast in Iraq. For example, “Milosevic: Bringing Down a Dictator.”

* Providing $1,000 microgrants to 150 Iraqi women community leaders identified by the Iraqi Women’s Educational Institute. The grants will be used for grass roots pro-democracy projects created by the women.

* Production and broadcast of citizen roundtables and townhall meetings.

* Support for Iraqi intellectuals who wish to publish and create public dialog on constitutionalism and the new Iraqi constitution. This is similar to the role of the Federalist Papers in the development of the United States.

* Creation and hosting of an Arabic blogging tool to enable more free voices to be heard.

* Support of a network of pro-democracy student groups and community organizations called “Friends of Democracy” by providing Internet access, blog hosting, copiers and paper.

Worthy causes, all. Won’t you help?

UPDATE: Praktike’s co-author at Chez Nadezha has some interesting insights that put all of this in a bigger context.