It was good to see that you made it through the bombing Ok. You had me worried when you signed off. I'm glad that you've been able to post some photos, too. See you around.
Thank you for sharing your photos with the world, and for your updates on what is really happening. It is so helpful for everyone to see that you're real people, with such beautiful cities (love the architecture!). And to hear that not everyone in Iraq has decided all Americans stink. You make an excellent online ambassador, for everyone's sake.
I wish you many years of continued postings! And prosperity for you and yours, soon.
I discovered your weblog only recently. For years, the only face of Iraq (actually, pretty much anything in that part of the world) I have been able to see was the ugly side - the endless loops of Saddam firing guns into the air in front of a madly cheering mob, the US flag on fire while people cheer, and of course the inevitable litany of how awful my country is.
It's more than just nice to read your perspective on things. The things you have had to say and the insights you have written down for the world to read are, if anything, the only lasting thing I can think of that says my country has for the most part done the right thing. I wasn't convinced when my country's leadership said that invading your country was the right thing to do - I come from a generation that has a deep seated mistrust of authority.
What convinced me was what you had to say. Thanks.
---wg, Oregon, USA
Thu 26-Jun-2003 18:08 Posted by:Yet another American
I've been following for many months now and your posts are what I consider the only real news from Iraq. But way beyond that, you have given your country a human face. A face that I like, that I understand and sympathize with. The world of news gives us angry shouting faces or bleeding and crying faces. The face you give is one more people need to see, to learn from. Amplify your voice. Be heard by more people. You offer hope whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not. You understand freedom more than most Americans. Please tell me there are more of you. Please tell me that Iraqis have a plan for peace. Cause God knows the Jarhead's gun knows no such plan.
Thu 26-Jun-2003 18:43 Posted by:Brian
I'm glad to see you back on line. I've been traveling a lot on business lately so I've not been posting much since the start of the war. I think all of us at Samizdata are glad to see you have come through whole and healthy. You had more prayers with you from the blogosphere than you could in your wildest dreams have imagined.
We can only pray that this does not turn into another
Vietnam.
Thu 26-Jun-2003 19:46 Posted by:Rosie
Salam,
Wonderful to see you posting again! And hey! Congratulations on your new writing job. Let us all know if we can help you get a new camera "thingy" or anything else. We are all out here wanting to help, not knowing what to do, and watching our government making a complete MESS of things over there.
You are become a friend for me and my daughter through your reports of your life in Baghdad in this troubled period. So please be careful and do not take risks that can be avoided.
Ciao Palma
Thu 26-Jun-2003 20:16 Posted by:palma
Hello Salam!
Your blog is the best REAL information one can get from Iraq over here in Germany. The media is presenting the "iraqi figthers" nearly as heros and you can get the feeling that all the news- makers are happy about the americans failure to implement "freedom and democracy" as they promised. I was against the war because of all the civil victims (and the poor recruited young soldiers too!), but now I wish that the people of Iraq take their chance and make a better Iraq and a better life. Your information-work is a first and important step to achieve this-
Good luck
Sebastian
Thu 26-Jun-2003 22:08 Posted by:Sebastian
Salam, thank you again for your pictures and commentary. I find that I have come to rely on your posts to feel that I am exposed to true and accurate information. Good fortune to you and your whole family.
Salam, Your words and pictures are incredible. You're better (and a whole lot more personable) than the evening news. It feels like this is the real story, going on from someone who is on the ground. I look forward to reading your new posts! You have cool sense of humor.
Salam, how can I thank you enough for your brave and valuable posts? And such marvelous writing in the bargain! I have given your link to many journalists and friends, all of whom have found you credible and who use you as a regular, ground-level window into Iraq. (And all of them they could write with such verve and personality.) When you came back on line, I got several excited e-mails and we all breathed a great sigh of relief. I wish an end to the troubles that have so long beset the Iraqi, and the very best for you, your family and all the people you chrerish. Thanks for providing me with a place to say this. My admiration is boundless. You have had a very positive impact -- kathleen.
Salam, Thank you for your reports. I have been reading them all along. Maybe the word has a chance with people like you in it.
Fri 27-Jun-2003 03:41 Posted by:Bee in the USA - [Link]
OOPS, I spelled world wrong. Well, who ever said dogs know how to spell!
Fri 27-Jun-2003 03:46 Posted by:Bee in the USA - [Link]
aaah finally, this very long-time fan has been dying for the opportunity to leave you a message...tried the email a week or two back, but it didn't work...hope by now you know that what you said a ways back, something like "there are a gazillion other reporters in Baghdad who can do better than me", is ridiculous...you are a superb writer and reporter. Your writing is bewitching, addictive, and top-notch. I wish you had the will and the strength to write tons more....we need you, we want you, we want to hear you, as much as possible...wherever you want to write it...you will never lose this fan. The pictures are great but if they take time away from the writing, I'd rather have the writing...just really really want to make you understand how good you are at it...you must keep doing it...
Fri 27-Jun-2003 04:43 Posted by:Mary in NYC marymwalsh@hotmail.com
Big fan since learning of you on al-jazeera. I tell all my friends about your site and they read and thank me. You transcend tragedy and absurdity and do the world great service! Great reporting, great writing!
You do great work in bringing people together to more understanding. We have put your log as a recommanded link into the 'Post Saddam' dossier on the Dossierpage of www.ScienceGuide.org!
thank you. I hope having a huge, appreciative audience isn't overwhelming. I pass your link to people here in spain and in the US. I hope you keep writing and keep safe.
yours,
josh
you're a jaban (glad that you have acknowledged yourself) and amil al amrikan.
nothing but a stooge. stooge did you hear. nyyaah!!
all thru' your blog you sing hosannas to american occupation and condemn sad(ist)am(n). well, saddamn be damned, what infuriates me is your wilful oversight of american collusion in the rape of iraq.
it was US which always has sided with tyrants and oppressors; which aided saddamn in his horrific adventures.
if you are half as honest as you pretend, you would certainly read chomsky, pilger and fisk. and why not add a couple of useful links like counterpunch and znet? (not that you hain't but who knows. cia folks keep off that. and you will sertainly delete my unkind comments)
US of A is the biggest example of mindcontrol and 1984 in reality. recently billgates was in news for speaking at a homeland security conference where he said something to this effect: 'surveillance is good for privacy'. that is doublespeak and doublethink for you.
stooge and a US puppy.
Fri 27-Jun-2003 11:54 Posted by:antisalam
I note with some amusement that the critical fellow in the former comment has chosen the name antisalam, which means "anti-peace".
i don't think salam has ever "sung hossanas" to american occupiers. he just says what it's like in iraq and leaves most of the comentary out of it: good thing. but have you actually ever READ his site? he has mentioned (with disgust) US support of saddam and other dictators in the past, and how this contrasts with US sudden interest in "freeing the Iraqi people" from their former ally
Fri 27-Jun-2003 14:43 Posted by:a guy
When you stopped writing, I checked for a few days and then gave up. I use to wonder if "Thats It !" Its good to have you back online.
I am from India and recently there is this talk of Indian forces being sent to Iraq. Bush and Blair has been pressurising our premier for this, but here in India we know that we have no business to be in Iraq just like these Allied forces.
I wish that you and all the Iraqis overcome this absurd situation you have been put in soon.
Thanks for providing some truth! Our news media have done a rotten job covering Iraq; mostly they report, uncritically, what the Bush administration says.
One fellow above, "wg", said he's become convinced from what you've written that invasion was the right answer.
I'm not convinced. Strange how we all project ourselves onto what we read.
My impression from your writings is that you view the invasion as a mixed bag: some good (ousting Saddam), some bad (cluster bombs, civil unrest). As part of the 32% of Americans who opposed the war, I hope the end result will be positive.
I'll continue to look to you for the truth from Iraq. You're a skillful and brave writer -- and your pictures are good, too!
Hi salam, it's great to have the chance to say "ciao" to my favorite reporter from bagdad. I've been following you since march and have been worring about your silence, I strongly hope in a future of peace for your country, but really don't trust this can happen soon. please don't give up keeping in touch with the world, many people feel closer to your country thanks to your blog.
I send my love to you ....sorry about my mistakes (I can't see them, but they probably are there)
Thank you so much for your blog. You give the world insight to what is actually happening without the political spin doctors being involved. Most Americans genuinely want to help. We don't really trust some of the charitable organizations. If you know of some that are legitimately helping please post about them so we can contribute accordingly. Tell us what we can do to help.
Count me among the readers who were VERY worried when there was a long timespan between blog updates. My first reaction when I saw that there were new posts was, "Oh, thank God!"
Your posts, and now your pictures, put a very real and human face on events, and your writing provides a personal perspective that's entirely absent from any other media coverage that I've been able to find. Thank you for that.
All the best to you and to the people you've introduced us to in your posts. Please take care.
Fri 27-Jun-2003 20:24 Posted by:Donna from Philadelphia, USA
Ditto on the "nice to see you back" thingy but, frankly, you've been back for awhile now so this seems a bit redundant....Much appreciated the link to Zainab's blog. It was very interesting reading. In regards to the current struggles in your country, I have gotten more insight and truth from your posts than any other source out there (and I'm always looking) - you are providing an invaluble service to all peeps out there who trying to get an honest and uncensored perspective on whats REALLY going down. Many thanks for your time and efforts. All the best to you and yours......P.S. I disagree with the poster who called you a "stooge" - it takes alot of balls to speak your mind in the midst of adversity. Please excuse the expression.....No offense intended.
Sat 28-Jun-2003 01:18 Posted by:Lesli webmastermo@yahoo.com - [Link]
It seems to me that a lot of people are projecting their own feelings onto Salam. My own impression from his blog has been that while he wanted to see Saddam gone, he was not happy that the US used bombs and guns to do it. Fair enough. He knows the situation there much better than I do.
I supported the war and still support our actions, and like the vast majority of other Americans on my side of this issue, wish nothing for the best for Iraq and its people. Saddam is no longer murdering and I think we can be proud of that. Clearly the Iraqi people wanted desperately to depose him on their own, but his iron control, military power and cruelty made that impossible.
This is not the first time we have moved to depose a dictator. The other nations where we did so are now safe, strong, democratic and independent.
Sat 28-Jun-2003 01:20 Posted by:Brendan from Massachusetts, USA
One GI a day. Hope you pro war people remember all the other millions of violent disputes and wars in history that ended us up right HERE, where we still aren't respecting each others space or differences. Its not your fault though, your just drunk on post 9/11 fears, letting a draconian conman like Bush lie to your face everyday with nothing more than a shrug. For the good of the Empire, right?
Sat 28-Jun-2003 05:18 Posted by:pacifist totalpacifist@yahoo.com
You have previously moved me to tears, Salam, but I was unprepared for what the comments to your work did to me. So often I feel alone in my search for what is really going on; by reading todays remarks I realise that there are many many people out there just like me.
Keep up the good work, SalamPax, both on these pages and in the official media. And don't let a few party-poopers take away your desire to spread the word. I sincerely hope for the best for you and your countrymen.
Regards from an ex-american, now a Norwegian in Paris
Sat 28-Jun-2003 11:08 Posted by:Richard Sanders richard.sanders@netcom.no
Sorry for all the typos. The last sentence was supposed to be "I'm more of a word person. Like you couldn't tell.
Please keep writing.
Sat 28-Jun-2003 17:06 Posted by:Shelley
Salam,
My wife and I have been avidly reading your blog since before the war started, and were of course very worried during your long absence. We have long supported the war as part of the defense of the US against terrorism, and the struggle between the values of freedom and the values of tyranny - whether's Saddam's Stalinism, the insanity of the radical Islamicists, or the other petty dictators of the world (the "axis of evil").
However, it helps to see the human face of those involved in the battle, and we hope that the outcome ultimately will be to the good of the Iraqi people and the whole region. Tyranny in any form is evil, and Saddam's was among the worst.
Many will say that the US acted out of self-interest - and it is true - although that interest was a matter of protection against the inevitable collusion between dictators with WMD's and terrorists, not the crass commercial desire to control oil as imagined by the conspiracists. Many will say we acted to free Iraq.... but within the US administration that was at most a secondary goal and it is hypocritical to say otherwise. Today, US foreign policy is divided between those who simply want to defend the US (the most fundamental purpose of any government) and those who want to spread our values (or at least secular democracy) throughout the world.
Certainly the vast majority of the American people want to see freedom and prosperity for all people, regardless of our disagreements on how to achieve it and on how much the US should act to do so.
As we watched the bombs drop, on the one hand we cheered that the evil of Saddam would be defeated, while on the other hand we feared for you and all the other innocent Iraqi's that your writing has come to represent (including the conscripted soldiers we were fighting). When you went silent, we were afraid that either Saddam's agents had gotten you or our bombs had!
And by the way, your writing is outstanding - don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
John in Phoenix, Arizona USA
Sat 28-Jun-2003 18:05 Posted by:John Moore - [Link]
Salam
There's not much I have to say that hasn't already been said several times here, but I think I'll go ahead and say it anyway.
Your weblog has been a fascinating portrayal of life on the street in the course of this absurd, tragic war. Your writing is fantastic, filled with an honesty and sense of humour that is impossible not to admire. I salute both the quality of your writing and the courage required for you to write it. Keep on writing, Salam, and we'll keep on reading. If you ever pass through Cardiff I'll buy you a beer.
Oh, just a quick repost to Brendan from Massachussetts.
"This is not the first time we have moved to depose a dictator. The other nations where we did so are now safe, strong, democratic and independent."
Pardon me while I fall off my chair laughing at *that* one. Cos, like, Afghanistan is now safe, strong, democratic and independent now, isn't it? The sad thing is, as the Iraqi, British and American bodies continue to pile up in Iraq, and as Bush and Blair start to look increasingly feeble in their attempts to explain why we haven't found a single weapon of mass destruction or al Qaeda terrorist in Iraq, people like Brendan still seem to be believing their own propaganda.
Can't add much to what's been said already, except my thanks. You have been giving us
such good information that we can not easily find elsewhere, and I would gladly pony up
for your continued reporting and insights if you want to put out that tip jar that someone
else suggested. Best wishes to you, your family & friends, and your country.
Missy T.
Vancouver, WA USA
Mon 30-Jun-2003 16:17 Posted by:Missy
Take adversity as an opportunity, maybe I'm being naive, but I was thinking your fellow Iraqis could do a tremendous amount of good to help improve the situation you're in , by getting small groups together and going to areas where utilities are being worked on and hang around as a group to lend moral support or even a little physical support such as getting the service person their tools, holding up the other end of whatever: (piece of tubing, wire, ruler etc.). The bad side is, as you are basically giving cover from the Ali-Babbas out there, you will be putting yourselves in danger. Now this is a risk assessment each of you will have to make, but this is the real price of freedom. I do believe that there will be rewards, both physically and spiritually. I think you will develop a sense or pride in the new order of Iraq. I know you are a proud people as well you should be. I would be if I were Iraqi. You have the opportunity of a lifetime, to help build your nation from the ground up. The stories you'll be able to tell your kids and grandchildren when you take them to a park, a museum, a landmark building and your own home (maybe with a swimming pool?). You can describe what this or that place was like before you and your friends helped rebuild it, after it was trashed by a superpower's bombs.You will be stronger, your religion will stronger, your freedom will be stronger and your culture will be stronger. How much effort you decide to put in into any endeavor is going to be determined by how much you believe freedom is worth. It's going to take a long time, and to quote my wife, "...seem like an exercise in futility." It's going to take dedication.
Good work and good photos. I hope you, G., and Zainab won't be the only Iraqi presence online; the more local voices the better. You did a good job showing how crappy things were under Hussein without getting yourself burnt and buried, and now you've given us a window on the aftermath. If the victors try to rebuild Iraq as a capitalist New Jerusalem (Ayn Rand should have lived so long) you'll doubtless be there to show it. I hope you and Iraq, having survived Hussein, survive Halliburton too. Meanwhile I'm sure we'll see plenty of humor and horror in the meantime (maybe all the places where Saddam's portrait once hung should now display posters of <A HREF="http://www.subgenius.com">J.R. "Bob" Dobbs</A>! Don't let the carpetbaggers and rent-a-mullahs get you down...
I'm responding to Phil from Cardiff. Phil, my brother just returned from Afghanistan, where he was part of a US Army unit. You are absolutely right that Afghanistan is not yet safe, strong, democratic and independent. But it is definitely safer and stronger than it was, and will become more democratic and independent with time. Consider that it is less than 18 months since our armed services removed the Taliban from power. 18 months after the end of WW2, Japan and Germany were not yet democratic and independent, but they were certainly safer than they had been - and they were on their way to where they are now - leading nations where people are free to work, to live, to choose their own government. And no longer a threat to their neighbors or to any other country. In short, they are full-fledged members of the family of nations. This future is possible, or maybe even likely, for both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Afghanistan is harder because the country has a dearth of educated people with liberal democratic views, and of course because it is so very poor. Where my brother was stationed, the women continued to wear burkas and the people continued to live along their tribal traditions. Life was still not "safe" by any Western definition. However, they no longer had to fear the Taliban (and they DID fear it and hated it), and they are getting better medical care, food, and water, with the help of America and its many allies.
I will never understand the Left's refusal to oppose despots (or to oppose them other than "peacefully", so often a synonym for saying lots but doing nothing).
Wed 2-Jul-2003 12:55 Posted by:Brendan from Massachusetts
Hey Salam,
I'm in the US Navy and yet a huge fan of yours. Just wanted to say both of your sites are great and you've offered a somewhat skewed but very realistic view of what's taking place over there and I'm an advid fan of your writing. Reading your blog has got me hooked on blogging and I've started one of my (a photo blog, the link's below). Things would be a lot better if people would just get along for a while over there. The harder this peace process is the longer we'll have to be over there. If all the parties involved would just stop shooting at each other it would lower the tensions and the process could start moving forward. Instead we have a bunch of lone crazies that don't seem to want peace at any terms and when we respond to them and they respond to us.....it keeps going on and on. Anyhow great work!
In response to Jerry asking why it is that we as individuals can get along but our governments can't it is simple: we, as individuals, don't really want anything from other people. We like to be left alone to live our lives and occasionally like to go visit other cultures. We have peaceful intentions. Our governments on the otherhand would like to pave the way for the 1% of the greedy rich to take whatever resources another country has. The US does not do anything in the name of democracy (ask anyone who was in Chile in the 1970s) and props up dictators if that dictator pleases US corporations (ask the Iraqis). The foreign policy of the US is corporation driven. The foreign policy of the individual is peace driven. To figure out where the next US incursion will be - follow the money.
Wed 2-Jul-2003 19:18 Posted by:Crickett in LA qwiksilver@yahoo.com
Hi y'all. I'm trying to set up a debating forum for those who read Salam and Gee's blogs. If anyone wants to participate, go to http://baghdadbloggers.cjb.net
I am afraid I must agree with Crickett in LA about the US--I live in a fascist country, run by corporations, the bottom line, which is always profit. Recently a friend and me decided that those of us who are concerned about this should act--we decided to buy books written by subversive and/or marginalized authors. I encourage others to do the same. Order books through small local stores. Call the big chain stores and order books from small presses, books by political prisoners, books by those who protest the US's recent administration and the terrible consequences we face because we as a people have allowed these things, the destruction of privacy, the gutting of our civil rights and the growing distance between the rich and the poor, to name only a few. Read these books, leave them in places where others might read them. We have to try and do something. Please, buy a book and pass it on. Pass on good websites. Pass on as much truth as you can, while we can.
Karen--Give it a rest.0)
What anti-American rhetoric did you find on Salam's picture blog page? Was it "spraying rose water"? How about "CDs in front of mosque"?
You people, and your right wing propaganda!
Always acting paranoid and claiming everyone is anti American.
Maybe you can't handle the fact that Salam and his friends are real human beings, not zombie puppets of Karl Rove or Jerry Bremer.
Dear Karen, do you really believe all the things you said? Well i have to tell you that maybe your lifes are not phisically affected but i think- and most people here do- that you have lost the capacity of seeing what is really happening in the world, and that is quite funny because most of the awful things that are happening were created by your "wonderful" politicians. Of course you are not being tortured, killed.... that is only because you are really busy killing the rest of the world. the truth is that you have spent the last years killing our freedom and our peace.
Of course i agree with you when you say the world is better without sadam but i think it would be better without some of your politicians and some of their friends.
Fri 4-Jul-2003 10:44 Posted by:claudia
Karen, both American and UK experts are now voicing fears that Iraq will turn out to be - not "another Vietnam" - but "another Somalia". In Somalia, things are about as bad or worse than they were before the Americans barged in. I fervently hope that these fears will not be realised, as it looks as if there are more educated Iraqis than there were educated Somalis.
Earlier this week - it might have been yesterday - the "flagship" radio current affairs programme "Today" on BBC Radio 4 (influential speech channel) interviewed someone from the Baghdad Al Sahab newspaper and someone else who said that the US leadership actually refused to seek expert advice on how the US forces should integrate with the culture in Iraq. That is jaw-droppingly arrogant. Even simple things can make such a difference. Here is one example from my own experience. One summer about 15 years ago, I worked for the Saudi royal family in London. I sought the advice of an "arabist": I asked, "Is there anything I really should be aware of?" He told me how important formal politeness is to Arabs; he said that, if I felt that I was being theatrically polite, then the Arabs would probably feel that I was getting it about right.
Americans are world famous for their informality but how difficult can it be to adopt a more formally courteous manner - no matter how silly it might feel - for the sake of international peace?
You can probably still hear the whole "Today" programme for yourself somewhere on the BBC web site: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/
Fri 4-Jul-2003 12:57 Posted by:Rachel, a Brit in London
Salam,
I'm glad you survived the war and are commenting on it. I hope very much that people like you do as well as possible in the future.
Some comments on the comments on American cluelessness -- from my own hybrid perspective of being very American, but having spent most of my life being educated and working around non-Americans:
The complaints about American failures and American informality are fair, and I hope they are heard.
But,
I honestly believe that the Americans in Iraq are doing the best that they know how to do, and, despite their blunders, are probably doing about as well as *anybody* could do, given the mess that they have been handed.
That being said, I do hope we Americans do even better soon.
Best wishes,
--Erich
Sat 5-Jul-2003 06:42 Posted by:Erich Schwarz emsch@its.caltech.edu
I was recently speaking with an American in a bar (yes, probably not terribly representative, but the crowd in San Francisco seems a great deal more thoughtful than what you'd otherwise expect) regarding what's going on in the world. As an immigrant myself, I feel that it is my duty to explain and educate people that there is indeed places besides the United States with stuff like telephones, cars, etc. <b>That</b> is the perennial "ugly American". I will post thoughts as to why this is the case on my own blog soon (just need to get things together and set aside maybe an hour or so to present them coherently).
i remember reading you posts where you discussed the readers who failed to believe you were actually in baghdad...i was always amazed that people could be so afraid some truth...the neo con artists are to ready to scream in attempt to drowned out any opposing view...i know now how you feel...they've been doing it to me as well...i'm still here with you, in baghdad, and i'm tired...keep safe...and keep telling it like it is
before you use words like `freedom` define them. Or they are menaingless lazy words.
The US government's foreign policy has killed millions since 1945. Including (source US State Dept 1984) 3.8million in Vietnam, 800k in Laos and 800k in Cambodia.
In the US this year 32,000 people will be killed with guns.
For under 18s the US kills more with guns than the next fifteen nations combined...the population rape at 600% the rate of europe (source UN)...one could go on.
Is that freedom?
Tue 8-Jul-2003 12:00 Posted by:the US and `freedom`
"32,000 will be killed with guns" WRONG. 8,719 in 2001(fbi) 3,000 of those are criminals killed by their intended victims, most of the rest are probably gang related. Guns are also[in the usa] used 2.5 million times a year to stop crimes. As for the rape rate, not enough women carry guns. Freedom takes responsibility, ie responsibility to own a gun and to protect yourself. Freedom is not freedom from working hard or freedom from crime or rape.
"No foreign power or combination of foreign powers could by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up from among us, it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die of suicide."
-Abraham Lincoln
I can't add anything that wasn't written here, so i'll just say i admire what you do.
Again you have left for "couple of days" and no sign of you for weeks - please, post something asap, people are chewing their fingernails here, wondering if you got shot by some of more zealous Iraqis or if you drove too fast towards US checkpoint.
As for photoblog, i would advise you not to post pictures of you, your friends, or places that could lead to pinpoiting your location/identity, because not all people like what you do and your views.
And as for some of those, who post comments here:
Could you people take your very fruiful and original discussions elsewhere? I've heard and read too much of this stuff in the last months - this is not a forum, find yourself one and spam there.
Take care
Wed 9-Jul-2003 10:13 Posted by:Peter
A couple of days has become a couple of weeks. It has become worrisome again, hasn't it. Where's Raed? Where's Pax?
Well, it's always good to see a new post on your blog. I always get a bit worried when you disappear for a while. Here's hoping everything is okay with you, your friends, and your family. I know things can't be great, but I hope all works out for everyone.
Sun 13-Jul-2003 07:54 Posted by:Jessi-Lynne jlsullivan@juno.com - [Link]
Dear Salam,
Inasmuch as I have been following your writings and admiring them, I must say this.
The popularity and fascination with your writings has a lot to do with the fact that you don't fit into the cliches and stereotypes that the westerners have of Iraqis and middle-easterners. The preposterous ingnorance of everyday life and people in other parts of the world is fundamental to western societies and it comes a refreshing surprise to know that someone in those backyards of the worlds can think and feel like them.
So, ironically there is a lurking sense of patronising attitude in the fascination with your writings.
Mon 14-Jul-2003 10:05 Posted by:mindworm
Hi,
I just find ur site wbout ur writing. What I read untill now about IRAQ is very good. I posted some in my group iraq_4all@yahoogroups.com I hope that u can post some of ur messages there.
Take care
Thanks
SAM
Just wanted to say I've been following the blog since it was featured on the BBC website and have enjoyed reading something from a normal persons perspective
Glad to hear you're o.k after the brush in the taxi - keep safe.
Sun 27-Jul-2003 18:19 Posted by:Seamus O'Blimey seamus_oblimey@yahoo.com
No surprise Gibson is a fan, and I can't improve on his reasons. After the war started, American media became divided between shallow alternative views ("In the studio we have General Howta Killdabastards to discuss flaws in U.S. strategy, and Suzee Lightweight of the peace organization Killing Is Not Nice"), and undisguised cheerleading. Even BBC wasn't that great (and not available here 'til after midnight). When your posts went away your sane, unmanaged, even-handed POV was sorely missed (and, yes, I was worried about a man I'd never met). Your RANT graced my cubicle for several weeks, with your advice (i.e. pay attention to what happens after the war) highlighted. Unfortunately, people aren't paying enough attention here--except they keep noticing these type of stats: http://www.f5wichita.com/amuse/index.php?pubdate=2003-08-07&story=564. Keep as safe as you can, and keep writing--please. I won't pretend to imagine what it's like: to be hyper-literate, famous, and living in such a mess, but I'm glad you're doing it.. Good luck..
Thu 14-Aug-2003 05:46 Posted by:John J.
From Iraqi reporters (I assume) attending the news briefing concerning the capture of Saddam Hussein when they saw the images on the monitors: "Death to Hussein! Death to Hussein! Long live Iraq!"
Sun 14-Dec-2003 13:49 Posted by:Jerry lonefalcon@yahoo.com
Could you help me. There are no wise few. Every aristocracy that has ever existed has behaved, in all essential points, exactly like a small mob.
I am from India and know bad English, please tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Our mini refrigerator and small refrigerator of compressor refrigerating system are traditonal small fridge and portable."
Greeting. Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.
I am from Malta and also am speaking English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Ca content and data are available under the creative commons attribution."
Good afternoon. My home is not a place, it is people.
I am from Seychelles and now study English, give please true I wrote the following sentence: " The carving south-east has been employed as a oak.In the 2001 census it had a church of 1,011 lintels.Xoxojenoooohhhh, roughly interior kim! The tise is at the westerly tank."
Give please. For me, it's that I contributed, ... That I'm on this planet doing some good and making people happy. That's to me the most important thing, that my hour of television is positive and upbeat and an antidote for all the negative stuff going on in life.
I am from Iran and know bad English, please tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "In very all of these organizations guidelines was written to be restricted and adapted to real looks."
Let us all know if we can help you get a new camera "thingy" or anything else. We are all out here wanting to help, not knowing what to do, and watching our government making a complete MESS of things over there.
You're better (and a whole lot more personable) than the evening news. It feels like this is the real story, going on from someone who is on the ground. I look forward to reading your new posts! You have cool sense of humor.
OOPS, I spelled world wrong. Well, who ever said dogs know how to spell!
Cos, like, Afghanistan is now safe, strong, democratic and independent now, isn't it? The sad thing is, as the Iraqi, British and American bodies continue to pile up in Iraq, and as Bush and Blair start to look increasingly feeble in their attempts to explain why we haven't found a single weapon of mass destruction or al Qaeda terrorist in Iraq, people like Brendan still seem to be believing their own propaganda.
. Finna.
, Computer repair nyc.
