# Interesting blog by young Iraqi **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 20, 2003, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776 "2003-03-20T10:13:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/1 "2003-03-20T10:13:43Z")
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/ ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/2 "2003-03-20T10:29:39Z")
I was going to post that! It is very interesting. She’s anti-Saddam, but has this to say: > [@](#): > > No one inside Iraq is for war (note I said war not a change of regime), no human being in his right mind will ask you to give him the beating of his life, unless you are a member of fight club that is, and if you do hear Iraqi (in Iraq, not expat) saying “come on bomb us” it is the exasperation and 10 years of sanctions and hardship talking. There is no person inside Iraq (and this is a bold, blinking and underlined inside) who will be jumping up and down asking for the bombs to drop. We are not suicidal you know, not all of us in any case. ---
**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/3 "2003-03-20T10:30:19Z")
Link does not work. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/4 "2003-03-20T10:35:18Z")
Works fine for me. Try again: http://dear\_raed.blogspot.com/ ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/5 "2003-03-20T10:37:34Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/6 "2003-03-20T10:40:08Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/7 "2003-03-20T11:39:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*Works fine for me. Try again: http://dear\_raed.blogspot.com/ \*\* 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. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/8 "2003-03-20T20:43:38Z")
More on the blog: it’s getting some increased attention… > **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. ---
**Author:** ![Misery\_Loves\_Co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Misery\_Loves\_Co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misery_Loves_Co)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/9 "2003-03-20T22:08:15Z")
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. . . ---
**Author:** ![Theobroma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@Theobroma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theobroma)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/10 "2003-03-21T07:27:04Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/11 "2003-03-21T07:43:46Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/12 "2003-03-22T09:17:39Z")
The last entry was Friday > [@](#): > > 2 more hours untill the B52’s get to Iraq. > :: salam 7:05 AM I hope he’s okay. ---
**Author:** ![HerMajestyLorna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7cd45c/32.png) [@HerMajestyLorna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HerMajestyLorna)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/13 "2003-03-22T14:06:37Z")
I’ve been reading this blog intermittently for a little while. I found out about it from my mom’s blog ([www.justworldnews.com](http://www.justworldnews.com)). I do hope he’s gonna be okay. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/14 "2003-03-22T16:04:31Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/15 "2003-03-23T07:09:05Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/16 "2003-03-23T07:20:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tristan \* > \*\*Also, it would be odd for someone to set up such a huge amount of backstory for just one web-gag. > > \*\* Crazed peacenik? ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-blog-by-young-iraqi/162776/17 "2003-03-23T08:11:02Z")
Nah, not enough time what with all the protests and such… 😃