(Initially published in SLNN.COM)

Steering clear of direct criticisms of current United States President George W. Bush, the first member of the European Parliment to speak in Second Life, spoke about the need for reconciliation within the borders of Iraq.

Avalon Isle - Paulo Casaca, educator and a Member of the European Parliament became the first MEP to publicly speak in Second Life.

The presentation was carefully organized by Irah Anatine of the Babel Project. Guests needed to register ahead of time and present information about their interests, particularly as educators or members of the media. People were encouraged not to wear objects that would add excessive lag, and members of the Babel Project were on hand to help any people that were new to Second Life.

Mr. Casaca started off his talk referencing Francis Fukuyama’s famous comments about the “End of History”. The end of the Cold War, as symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall seemed to many people to be the end of ideological confrontations. Yet as the world learned on September 11, 2001, this was not to be the case. Geopolitical issues are much more complicated and a new thinking came out of the events of September 11th that lead to the Iraq war.

The liberation of Iraq was supposed to be the symbol of a new era. Yet Mr. Casaca observed that by all standards, it failed and we need to ask why it failed.

In the discussion that followed people asked many questions about President Bush and the United States. “What do you think of Bush? What is the general public opinion of the US? Why were so many mistakes made? What do you think about Bush’s long term plans for Iraq? Why does the world allow Guantanamo Bay to continue?”

Generally speaking, Mr. Casaca declined to get into specifics about perceptions about the Bush administration and the United States. There is a Presidential election happening in the United States, and while the whole world is interested and has a vested interest in the outcome of these elections, it is not something that Mr. Casaca wanted to go into.

“I do not want to lecture American people about their elections,” he stated. He went on to observe that many people are concerned about the United States wanting to rule the world, when in fact everyone seems to want to rule America.

He did note, however, that the European Parliament has repeatedly criticized the U.S. Government about Guantanamo Bay.

Mr. Casaca spoke about his three trips to Iraq. The perspective that he presented was considerably different from that presented by the Western media, in part, he believes, because it is not safe to be a western journalist in Iraq. Journalists are being murdered there.

He went on to talk about a member of the Iraqi parliament that was murdered because he was an open critic of the Iraqi government and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Mr. Casaca’s visits to Iraq have made a profound impression on him. He collected hundreds of pages of documentation and photographs. People came to him describing the most horrible things. Hospitals were converted to slaughterhouses. If you were a different affiliation workers in the hospital would leave you to die, or actually kill you. Victims of the suicide bombing that killed the Iraqi member of parliament who aren’t ‘the right religion’ fled to Jordan to be treated. Mr. Casaca suggested this was perhaps the most obvious symbol of a catastrophic situation. He believes that Iraq will be remembered as the cruelest war ever because of the level of violence and torturing and murder.

To address the situation, a true government of national reconciliation needs to be established, not simply a government arguing over what percentage of oil revenues goes to which region. In this, professionals that have fled Iraq need to be welcomed back, made secure and provided opportunities to use their skills for the betterment of Iraq.

Mr. Casaca talked about efforts to get Iraqi’s talking together, and particularly about “Iraq with a Future”, an effort to bring together European parliamentarians and Iraqi civil society and political leaders.

Paulo Casaca is new to Second Life, yet he believes it could be a useful platform to bring together members of the Iraqi Diaspora, people of different beliefs about Iraq, both inside and outside of Iraq for civil discussions about how to help Iraqis struggle for survival and dignity.

If the discussion afterwards is any indication, Mr. Casaca’s beliefs are well justified. People from around the United States and around Europe gathered at the session. It was well run and hopefully sets an example for the sort of interaction that can happen in Second Life as well as in real life to address issues of global importance.