The night before, Dhia had been equally passionate before an audience of 60,000 at the Stadium of Fire celebration in Provo, declaring that no weapons of mass destruction have been located by U.S. troops because they had all been buried in a mass grave by Saddam's henchmen.

And besides, he said, those weren't the greatest threat.

"Saddam himself is a weapon of mass destruction," he said.

His wife agrees. As president of the Women's Alliance for a Democratic Iraq, she is helping educated women take leadership roles in a new Iraq, as well as finding educational opportunities for women who were denied that opportunity under Saddam's regime.

It's one of the perks of freedom, she says, and something she refuses to take for granted.

"Freedom is precious. We all need to defend it," Fakri said. "We know that because we came from tyranny."

All of this is a little overwhelming for their son, Al. He's proud of his family, but he has lived his entire life in America and doesn't truly understand the horror experienced by his parents and his cousins who were left behind.

His father, however, recalls the terror of living under Saddam. And he remembers the injustice.

Now, he is focused on a promising future — one that he says the media doesn't see.

"Unfortunately, most of the media is only concerned with what is going on in the battlefield," Dhia said. "The press is not as good as it could be, because there are a lot of wonderful things happening in Iraq."

And it's hard not to believe Dhia's strong faith in an Iraqi-American partnership and a bright future for his homeland.

It brings to mind the words of another tune sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as Dhia listened. And, once again, the lyrics to "America the Beautiful" could have been written for this modern pioneer.

"O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife. Who more than self the country loved and mercy more than life."

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E-mail: lwarner@desnews.com