Comments on: Straight from the source

Straight from the source

Jase_B — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 10:53:16 -0800

"When two Iraqis sit together to talk then politics will be there."

Quite a powerful weblog post by Baghdad citizen 'Mohammed' who tries to focus on the positive side of things against ever increasing frustration. Just one of a number of Iraqi weblogs that are beginning to pop up now that both the Internet and freedom of speech is available to the commoners.

By: hama7

hama7 — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:18:35 -0800

He gets extra points for linking to LGF, Winds, Cold Fury and Volokh. Excellent! On a side note, he also links to Chief Wiggles under the heading "Soldiers' Blogs", and Chief Wiggles is none other than our very own, big-hearted, no nonsense, Korea-lovin', Right-Wingin' great guy Plunge. I wondered where he had been, now I know it was Iraq.

By: jammer

jammer — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:52:35 -0800

Obviously, this guy is a CIA plant.

By: chaz

chaz — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:58:03 -0800

great stuff, self-publishing has always been at the center of democratic revolutions... be careful of course to read many sources and take all of them with a grain of salt, it would be foolish to make prognostications based on one blogger's opinions.

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 12:04:05 -0800

Obviously, this guy is a CIA plant. Probably not, though I agree with Oliver Willis from the last time the pro-war right wingers decided to play the "look! A happy Iraqi! WE WERE RIGHT! WE WIN, YOU ASSHOLES!" card. "Wah-wah hateful liberal" accusations expected, but a handful of unidentified blogspot blogs, all created within about two weeks of each other, some of which link to websites that frequently invoke some of the harshest racism online about the Arab world? Yah, I'll wait for the "extra points" to be the ones for credibility. Like Oliver said, I'm not accusing this guy of lying or not even being an Iraqi (though I do wonder why, as an Iraqi, he's flying the flag of the U.S. coalition and not the restored Iraqi flag reinstated during the power transfer two weeks ago), merely that a 100% real group of literate, studied, internet-accesible (complete with finances to pay upgraded BlogSpot fees) citizens of a country that in vast parts doesn't even have a working infastructure doesn't exactly represent the whole of the country vis-a-vis general quality of life. Even those against the war haven't made an outrageous claim that nothing is good in Iraq. Hell, vast parts of the country have been very well off, even with sanctions, because of the lack of Saddam's grip over areas controlled by the UN inspections and no-fly policies. My point, I guess, is that within the validity of the poster, the argument about Iraq being a good place is moot in fact of the complete lack of any explanation as to why it is good. "Gassed his own people" platitudes aside, I'm reading a lot of very intelligent, very detailed writing from people who claim to be glad for the new Iraq, yet offer no insight as to why the war was necessary against all the other available options.

By: TheophileEscargot

TheophileEscargot — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 12:05:56 -0800

Fascinating... nice to get some real specific information on what's happening, literally within a kilometer of his home. Also saw on Al-Jazeera that the Iraqi police have been making their first large-scale arrests of criminals today. Quite rare to see a positive tone in an Iraq story from them.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 12:56:13 -0800

From Healing Iraq: Saturday, July 03, 2004 According to this report, the 3 soldiers who forced Zaydun and his cousin Marwan into the Tigris at Sammara resulting in the drowning of Zaydun are now facing charges of manslaughter, assault, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy. A fourth soldier was charged with assault and making false official statements. A court hearing has been scheduled next Thursday, and further charges may be waiting the soldiers. Here is Reuter's story, and I have been told that the story was mentioned today on several news channels, nothing in the Arab channels yet. This following an Army CID investigation which took about 6 months. Zaydun and Marwan returning from a business trip at Baghdad were arrested just outside Sammara minutes before the night curfew last January, they were released at the Tharthar dam gates on the Tigris and were forced into the river by the soldiers even though Zaydun pleaded with them that he couldn't swim. Zaydun drowned and Marwan who was picked up by the Sammara ICDC force survived to tell the story. Zaydun's corpse was recovered from the river days later, his family was denied an investigation so his mother wrote a letter to president Bush which was published on this blog. Days later a full investigation commenced, press reporters and journalists picked up the story... Another very positive report on interactions with American troops.

By: hama7

hama7 — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 13:12:27 -0800

U.S. Soldiers Charged in Iraqi Drowning Death.

By: dhoyt

dhoyt — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 13:12:47 -0800

^Doesn't sound like something a right-winger type would "plant" in a blog.

By: hama7

hama7 — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 13:14:57 -0800

Lucky 4:12.

By: FormlessOne

FormlessOne — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 15:05:41 -0800

Well, they have the Internet, anyway.

By: squirrel

squirrel — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 17:58:29 -0800

Yeah, but no reliable power. How does that work?

By: y2karl

y2karl — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 20:04:25 -0800

Apparently, some of these folks are working for or doing business with the coalition. They have better power inside the Green Zone.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 20:10:26 -0800

Hammorabi, the number above is in the UK, at least according to the Future Of Iraq Portal , which has a number of Iraqi weblogs--among many other things--from within and without Iraq linked from across the political spectrum. Now there is a resource.

By: kablam

kablam — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 20:25:52 -0800

Expect more of this rather than less: a treat, actually, because Iraqis have a great reputation as storytellers. I mean "storytellers" in the traditional sense, when a person would sit in the corner of a coffee house (or bar) and tell stories for the entertainment of customers. Sir Richard Burton's 'The Arabian Nights' were to a large extent gleaned from such tales found in the region. And the Iraqis are a highly literate people. When things settle down over there, hopefully into peace and prosperity, I hope that their grand literary tradition is reawakened and translated into English. Theirs is a reputation of prose and poetry of the highest quality, long before they were called Iraqis.

By: swell

swell — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 20:41:35 -0800

(from Hammorabi) The new report by the US Senate regarding intelligence failure about WMD may be part of the war against GWB! I'm glad they aren't using the "newly freed" press over there to spread propaganda.

By: Satapher

Satapher — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 20:55:27 -0800

Americans are happy...

By: insomnia_lj

insomnia_lj — Wed, 14 Jul 2004 04:51:08 -0800

Wow. Let's link to a bunch of well known weblogs with no new news and call it a FPP. Hey, did you see this Iraqi weblog? Neat, huh?!

By: Jase_B

Jase_B — Wed, 14 Jul 2004 08:06:18 -0800

Wow. Let's link to a bunch of well known weblogs with no new news and call it a FPP. LOL! If I'm not mistaken, linking "news" generally results in people whinging "Newsfilter!!". Would you prefer I post something facinating like this? Moron.

By: Space Coyote

Space Coyote — Wed, 14 Jul 2004 10:06:42 -0800

That the rightwingers try to claim victory at the existence of a few happy Iraqis means they themselves know they're wrong.