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When you visit the United States for the first time, it’s good to get at least a small sampling of grass-roots democracy in action. It worked out that way for a group of Iraqi public officials who were here last week. Their tour of the state Capitol coincided with a throng of citizens demonstrating outside and pressing into the building to voice their displeasure about the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision that said, hey, gay marriage is OK by us.

“With respect to this issue,” said Mohan Al-Khafaji, a member of a provincial council in eastern Iraq, “we have made up our minds. It is not accepted.”

However, he added, “we don’t object to the discussion,” thereby nailing the concept of free speech better than many an American.

What the visitors really wanted to learn about was not how we handle marital permutations, but how we handle utilities, energy and public works in general. They were on a three-week tour that included stops in Washington, D.C., Dallas, Des Moines and New York.

Their work involves infrastructure in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, and they face the daunting task of restoring and modernizing systems and facilities in far worse shape than ours – even though the word usually attached to our infrastructure is “crumbling.”

“Your technology and systems for treating water are so advanced with respect to what we have,” said Hatem Al-Hatem, chief engineer for the city of Baghdad. The sewage treatment systems back home aren’t working, and the trouble preceded the war, which began six years ago. “The systems were not operational because of the sanctions” in place between the Gulf War and the 2003 invasion, Al-Hatem said.

On their first full day in Iowa, the seven Iraqis and their three interpreters were driven to Grinnell to visit the water department and wastewater treatment plant. A few days later, they toured the Des Moines Water Works. They also spent time at MidAmerican Energy Co.

Along with all of the fact-finding, they also had some chances to meet Iowans and learn about how we live – although we should hope that they didn’t consider their visit to Jim and Roxanne Conlin’s home on Easter Sunday as typical. Imagine them going back to Baghdad and reporting that the average Iowa couple lives in an 11,000-square-foot showplace.

Judy Conlin, Jim’s sister, served as the Iraqis’ main guide during their one-week visit to Central Iowa; she’s the executive director of the Iowa Council for International Understanding. The trip was part of the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program, which is expected to spend $79 million in fiscal year 2009.

Al-Khafaji said that he noticed “lots of independence at different levels of government” during his U.S. visit. “That gives the individual great latitude in maneuvering, and that’s why you get innovative ideas,” he said.

“The Iraqi people have been told for decades to wait for the government to lead, and they obey.”

As for the still-tricky situation back home, the visitors expressed confidence that progress is being made in reconstructing buildings and reimagining government.

“It should be no problem,” said Falah Muhen of Baghdad’s Essential Service Committee. “Iraq is a wealthy nation. We have lots of industries. There is religious tourism, other minerals we have not exploited, resorts we have not developed.”

Tourism? That’s an Iraq we haven’t even started thinking about yet.

They mentioned that Baghdad hopes to find a sister city in the United States, and made it sound like an invitation. We should look into that.

A sibling with an exotic and shady past can make life more interesting. If that’s what we want, it would be hard to beat Baghdad.