Freethought & Rationalism Archive

ybnormal · 03-24-2003, 01:14 PM

Iraqi uses web to chronicle a city under the bombs

Quote:

A mysterious Iraqi who calls himself Salam Pax, writing a weblog from the heart of Baghdad, has developed a large Internet following with his wry accounts of daily life in a city under US bombardment.

Quote:

http://dear_raed.blogspot.com

Monday, March 24, 2003
The last two days we didn�t have internet access. I thought that was it and started what a friend called a �pblog�, what you will read is what should have been the entries for the 22nd and 23rd.

Blogger and Google have created a mirror to this weblog at [dearraed.blogspot.com] for those of you who have trouble with the underscore in the URL. There are not enough words to thank the people at Blogger for their help and support.

http://dearraed.blogspot.com

ybnormal · 03-25-2003, 01:41 AM

Altho I like the above site better for the unique local flavor, maybe the ability to read the captions will make Al Jazeera's pictures a bit more meaningful now.

http://english.aljazeera.net/?tag=nl

Liquidrage · 03-25-2003, 05:02 AM

There are 24 million people in Iraq.

Approx. 12,000 have internet access.

Whether he's in Baghdad or not, he seems to be doing pretty well for himself under Saddam.

Toefur · 03-25-2003, 07:09 AM

Okay, seriously, is there anything to actually give even the slightest amount of evidence that this is written by a real Iraqi in Baghdad?

I would have hoped the story at the ABC site would have something, but it didn't offer any help.

Am I perhaps just being too untrusting? After reading a number of entries in this Blog I really got the impression that it's not all that authentic, it has the feel of being written by your average anti-war person you'd meet on the street. The things he mentions seem to be all things that are all fairly well covered by most news sources, and there doesn't seem to be all too many specific details said about anything that wouldn't be hard to find out from a quick play around in Google.

Optional · 03-25-2003, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Toefur
Okay, seriously, is there anything to actually give even the slightest amount of evidence that this is written by a real Iraqi in Baghdad?

Well, for what it's worth, there's this. I've read through quite a number of entries, and it feels real to me.

-me

Nataraja · 03-25-2003, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Liquidrage
There are 24 million people in Iraq.

Approx. 12,000 have internet access.

Whether he's in Baghdad or not, he seems to be doing pretty well for himself under Saddam.

There is such a thing as healthy cynicism, but I believe this may be misaimed. In almost any place, a person normally wins by a combination of wit, luck, and toil, not by favor of the government. His family has done adequately, but this does not make them rabid supporters of the regime, and even that would not prevent him from having his own private mind about things. I know it is asking a lot, but please try to wrap your mind around the idea of someone being upset about seeing their city under attack. He sounds to me like a young man from a well-off family who has a lot of time on his hands and a better idea of what's going on in his city than someone who lives oceans and continents away. I think that you are one of those I have decided have been polarized beyond probable repair. You have my sympathies, and I hope you recover soon.

Mr. Superbad · 03-25-2003, 11:07 AM

I've been reading his log for a while now. It's pretty interesting, and he seems legit to me.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

03-25-2003, 01:41 AM	#2
ybnormal Regular Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 430	Altho I like the above site better for the unique local flavor, maybe the ability to read the captions will make Al Jazeera's pictures a bit more meaningful now. http://english.aljazeera.net/?tag=nl

03-25-2003, 05:02 AM	#3
Liquidrage Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Tallahassee Posts: 1,301	There are 24 million people in Iraq. Approx. 12,000 have internet access. Whether he's in Baghdad or not, he seems to be doing pretty well for himself under Saddam.

03-25-2003, 07:09 AM	#4
Toefur Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 77	Okay, seriously, is there anything to actually give even the slightest amount of evidence that this is written by a real Iraqi in Baghdad? I would have hoped the story at the ABC site would have something, but it didn't offer any help. Am I perhaps just being too untrusting? After reading a number of entries in this Blog I really got the impression that it's not all that authentic, it has the feel of being written by your average anti-war person you'd meet on the street. The things he mentions seem to be all things that are all fairly well covered by most news sources, and there doesn't seem to be all too many specific details said about anything that wouldn't be hard to find out from a quick play around in Google.

03-25-2003, 11:07 AM	#7
Mr. Superbad Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Well fortified mountain bunker Posts: 3,567	I've been reading his log for a while now. It's pretty interesting, and he seems legit to me.

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.