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2003-02-05 Axis of Evil

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Posted by Patrick Phillips 2003-02-05 11:49 am|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Raed often mentions things that I thought were in short supply in Iraq, especially for "average citizens". Either the sanctions aren't near as bad as we've heard, or Raed's family is not so average.

Posted by Angie Schultz 2003-02-05 15:55:40|| [darkblogules.blogspot.com] 2003-02-05 15:55:40|| Front Page Top

#2 From things Raed has said in previous blog entries - and I've been following his blog only intermittently so I'm not what you would call up to date on him - his family is well-to-do, certainly they'd have to be on the prosperous side for Raed to be able to have a PC (even if it's an old Pentium II clunker) in Iraq these days. Besides, getting around blockades and smuggling are age-old games in the Near East, and I don't doubt that the still-enterprising Baghdadi merchant class - who were, in their day, the class of the world in the trading category - can get just about anything it wants if they put their minds to it - for a price, of course.

I personally think Raed is on the level, though of course I can't prove it; I think it much more likely that if Saddam's boys were to put a blog up, it'd be chock-full of propaganda. Raed _sounds_ real; not happy about the upcoming war, as noted in the comments, but not in the least enamored of Saddam either. If (always if!) he's for real, he's an extraordinarily courageous young man - God, or more likely, the devil knows what would happen if the secret police found his blog and figured out who he was.

Posted by Joe 2003-02-05 17:10:52|| 2003-02-05 17:10:52|| Front Page Top

#3 For all the reasons cited above, I have great hopes for post-liberation Iraq...they're resiliant, resourceful, and brave. Kind reminds one of the Russkies suffering under communism.

If Raed is real, I hope he keeps his head down, and comes through okay on the other side. Iraq's gonna need some clever ones to rebuild that cess pit.

Posted by JDB 2003-02-05 19:12:24|| 2003-02-05 19:12:24|| Front Page Top

#4 He's most likely a computer science student, programmer, or something of the sort..

Posted by Rw 2003-02-05 20:21:54|| 2003-02-05 20:21:54|| Front Page Top

#5 The blogger's name is actually Salam. Raed is a friend of his living abroad and doesn't blog on the site much.

Posted by Steve C. 2003-02-05 23:19:42|| 2003-02-05 23:19:42|| Front Page Top

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