AIM and the War on Iraq?!?

Factual Questions
1

My co-worker told me the other day that the US gov. took all the AIM names registered in Iraq and that shared a name with a top level offical and started phycological warfare by AIMing them messages like “you’re going to die,” etc.

I told him that I didn’t believe him. 1st, why would anyone (especially top officals) use their real name when registering. 2nd, just think of the number of people who share a name. 3rd, that’s just really dumb.

Does anyone have a cite that proves that the US is AIMing Iraq to death?

I have to run. I’ll post later about how I meant to spell words wrong and how the hamster actually ate my grammar.

Thanks.

2

:dubious:

just that.

:dubious:

3

I could swear I physically heard the world just get dumber.

4

Wow, that’s beyond dumb. Your cow-orker needs more work to do.

  1. Screen names and ‘registered in Iraq’ aren’t very reliable. A person could fabricate both pieces of information. Even if AIM somehow recorded the person’s IP address or location, who’s to say it belongs anyone important, or that the person’s still in Iraq? It could be an expatriate, or tourist. Shooting in the dark is what it’d amount to.

  2. Why would a top-level Iraqi government official have an AIM name? Why would a top-level Iraqi government official be stupid enough to use his real name for his AIM name?

  3. The American government has better things to do with their time than send instant messages. Especially now. So does the Iraqi government.

  4. Sending threatening AIM messages is psychological warfare? Hardly. Sending their mother’s severed limbs with a floral arrangement-- now that’s psychological warfare.

Honestly, why not just mail a death threat made out of cut-out letters from a magazine to “A Top-Ranked Iraqi Government Official”? It works with Santa Claus. :rolleyes:

5

This would be impossible to prove, for starters, because they aren’t doing it.

6

actually i’ve just downloaded AIM for the first time and i think it might be true - i’ve been AIMing saddam for the last couple of hours:

“HA HA! You’re going to lose Saddam!”

“AM NOT!”

“R SO!”

“AM NOT AM NOT AM NOT!”

“R SO R SO R SO!”

7

I think your friend is overzealously relating this.

8

I read somewhere or other, probably the philadelphia inquirer, but I never keep these things straight in case I need them for no apparent reason, that they were also calling iraqi higher ups on cell phones, home phones, etc. telling them to give up. I would love to see transcripts of those phone calls, they’ve gotta be rich.

9

Saddam won’t stop bothering me on AIM. He’s always sending me pictures of girls showing their ankles, coupons for Bed Ba’ath and Beyond, crap like that. He even changed his buddy icon to an animated picture of Bush’s head on a monkey.

I click “block” when he IMs me, but he always complains about how the blockade is starving his people.

10

They’re going to strangle him with seaweed?

11

I thought it seemed strange. That CNN article was interesting though. Hey, I guess AIM would be the next logical step in warfare :rolleyes:.