Andrew Sullivan clued me in to this. A fairly interesting take on life in Bagdad, and the thinking of an Iraqi living in the midst of things.
http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/
I was going to post that!
It is very interesting. She’s anti-Saddam, but has this to say:
Link does not work.
Works fine for me. Try again: http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/
I ran into that a few days ago, courtesy of a friend’s LJ. Been following it since.
I’m going to be depressed if the updates suddenly stop–particularly when things really heat up.
Yeah, I can’t imagine that the U.S. is going to allow the net to stay up unless they decide they can get more intelligence out of Iraq using it than they can gain by knocking it out. Hope it stays up.
Could be my company’s firewall I guess. It says that underscore is not a valid URL character.
::checks using an anonymous proxy::
Yep, it does work. It’s the firewall to blame.
More on the blog: it’s getting some increased attention…
Very cool. . . that’s another site I’ll be checking hourly. . .
I’m not sure what’s so wierd about being anti-Saddam yet not wanting to get the heck bombed out of them though. Just because they want Saddam out doesn’t necessarily mean they want U.S. in. Strange, I know, but we’re not universally seen as the saviors of the planet, nor are bombs universally agreed upon as the best means of salvation. . .
Assuming, of course, I haven’t been whooshed. . .
Thanks for the MSNBC link, Apos. Nice write-up.
By the way, I didn’t know how anyone could tell that this Iraqi writer was young or female…evidently s/he isn’t necessarily either. S/he is old enough to work in an office and remembers the last Gulf War in '91, that’s all we know.
Vivid descriptions, though…if s/he survives the war, I’d buy his/her book anytime. I’ll be following this blog as long as it’s up.
AT one point in the archive, he refers to himself as a “bear”, and links to a fashion guide for bears that has some overtly homosexual undertones, IMO.
Who knows? Either way, an interesting thing to read.
I said in my LJ that that is the sort of person that Iraq will need after the rebuild… one who believes in Iraq, thinks in a Western way and is creative and intelligent.
The last entry was Friday
I hope he’s okay.
I’ve been reading this blog intermittently for a little while. I found out about it from my mom’s blog (www.justworldnews.com).
I do hope he’s gonna be okay.
Call me a cynic, but how do you actually know that it’s an Iraqi and not some 15 yo from LA?
Interesting read though.
Well, therea are a slew of folks on the internet that have asked the same question, and after research and in some cases, actually communicating with him via e-mail, have come to the conclusion that he’s legit.
Also, it would be odd for someone to set up such a huge amount of backstory for just one web-gag.
Personally, I think it’s legit, and I certainly hope he’s ok.
Crazed peacenik?
Nah, not enough time what with all the protests and such… 