Hi! How was your trip? I hope it went on smoothly. Did you catch the bus to Amman? How was that trip? It must've been very hard to be 'on the road' for such long distances!

About my thoughts…I think that Iraq has the potential to be, as everyone hoped, a better country and a bright example of democracy in the Middle East. Most Iraqis do not care about the factional differences between Sunnis and Shiites, Arabs and Kurds, Muslims and Christians. These divisions were made by Saddam and are now accentuated by the media! It may take some time, and may be some expensive sacrifices, but one day the Iraqis will pay no attention to such matters at all.
The most positive thing that came out of this war in my opinion is that we now are free! We've tasted the sweetness of freedom (although it is far from perfect as yet), but it is a zillion times better than that dreadful feeling we had under Saddam; that repulsive perception of slavery! I don't think that Iraqis will ever accept it again. We now have hope! Another thing we never had during Saddam's reign of terror. Hope that one day (hopefully not very far) things will get better and better. We have that 'light at the end of the tunnel' on again after years of pitch black!
Freedom and hope are vital to rebuild nations, but not enough. They need the people who are prepared to make things happen, based on their hopes and undercover of the blessing of freedom. That's what Iraqis must realize now. Iraqis must dust off laziness and be prepared to work hard to make their dreams come true. Help from our friends all over the world is most welcome and can help a lot, but we must realize that it's our country and our children's, so the hard work will fall mainly on our shoulders. Hand in hand, we can make miracles.

Well Anders, I must leave now. I want to ask you a favor! Could you please convey my regards to my friends in Denmark, please? I want to say "hello" to: Helle and Michael, Birthe and Peter, Lene, Søren, Jeanne, Henrik, Ole and of course my very good friends at DR Jacob and Jørgen, plus my cousin Anja and her family and all those fine Danes who emailed me. Thanks a lot! And of course I must thank the Hollywood Foreign Press (tears and sobs) and my producers and bla bla bla … ;-)