On July 8, 2005, at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at USD, Dr. Naba Saleem Hamid addressed a large audience sponsored by Voices of Women.

Dr. Hamid, a biology professor at the University of Baghdad, was sponsored to the United States by PeaceXPeace, a women's organization based in Virginia.

Dr. Hamid began her presentation by saying that life in Iraq is hell. Citizens are deprived of basic needs like water (for hours at a time in searing summer temperatures), safety and security, jobs and fuel. She asked: "is the United States the liberator or the occupier?" If the US wants to establish democracy in Iraq, it will have to be done from the ground up, not the top down. Dr. Hamid established her organization, New Horizons for Women, to help girls to understand the differences in cultures and religions, and to work toward understanding them, and themselves, so that they may become effective leaders in the new Iraq. She would like to see the US lead the world through civilization, not through weapons.