From Bahdad

[Gość: awalk]

A mysterious Iraqi who calls himself Salam Pax, writing a Web log from the heart of Baghdad...

dear_raed.blogspot.comhttp://in.news.yahoo.com/030324/137/22kee.html

[Gość: awalk]

dear_raed.blogspot.com/

[butter_fly]

awalk any idea who the guy really is?

[Gość: awalk]

A good question but there is not an easy answer. I have no idea, I can only specualate. He is young, he is living in Baghdad, his English is excellent for an Iraqi, simple yet powerful. He is making his point well. I agree with many of his opinions, for example:

'...how could "support democracy in Iraq" become to mean "bomb the hell out of Iraq"? why did it end up that democracy won't happen unless we go thru war? Nobody minded an un-democratic Iraq for a very long time, now people have decided to bomb us to democracy? Well, thank you! how thoughtful...'

I am amazed by striking similarities between Poland and Iraq:

"...The combination of poverty/no work/low self esteem and the bitterness of seeing people who rose to riches and power without any real merit but having the right family name or connection shook the whole social fabric. Situations which would have been unacceptable in the past are being tolerated today..."

And then there is riverbend:

"Salam, you've reminded me that we have to get to duct-taping the windows (did you use an 'X' pattern or the traditional '*'?) . [Salam: the * star is good but with particularly big windows I have been using a plus and Xs in each quadrant]."

"We've stocked up on candles (dozens of 'em) but my mother is starting to eye my collection of scented candles anyway. So you can anticipate the scene- hundreds of bombs flying overhead, the deafening sound of planes, blended with murmured prayers, in a semi-dark room smelling faintly of lavender. And that smell will forever be consecrated in my mind along with the rest of the war memories - candles, duct tape, kerosene lamps and lavender"

Isn't she great? So down-to-earth and just pure poetry the next moment.

Finally, he says: 'IS SALAM PAX REAL?
please stop sending emails asking if I were for real, don't belive it? then don't read it. I am not anybody's propaganda ploy, well except my own.'

Perhaps this is the best answer to your question.

[Gość: chickenShorts]

Pax is back

May 7: Salam Pax, aka the Baghdad blogger, has at last broken cover. His friend
and fellow blogger Diana Moon (who has her own blog, Letter From Gotham) has
posted a bumper crop of 15 entries to Pax's Dear Raed blog, filling in the
silence that had fallen since his last entry on March 24 as the bombs began to
fall. Pax is, as always, frank and wryly funny, even during the terrifying US
bombing raids. 'Somehow when the bombs start dropping or you hear the sound of
machine guns at the end of your street you don't think about your "imminent
liberation" any more,' he writes.

dearraed.blogspot.com/

[Gość: wacko jacko]

Could it be a hoax?
In a city without power and phone service, what is powering that server?
According to the stats, there was one service provider and ca. 12500 users.

I doubt authenticity of Salam Pax

[Gość: chickenShorts]

www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,951424,00.html

[Gość: awalk]

Thanks chick.

I like the part about 'Ali Baba' the best. To draw American troops attention non-English speaking Iraqis shout 'Ali Baba. I love it!

Watching CNN I have always been curious about the Iraqi crowds jumping in front of the cameras and shouting something. Now I've finally found out what it was and why they were so happy.

Isn't it also something in the context of the coincidental discovery of 650 million dollars in cash by American soldiers? I have always suspected it wasn't so coincidental and now I have the proof. Somoeone must have shouted 'Ali Baba' to an unsuspecting embeded American reporter and - poof! - the treasure appeared.

Who knows maybe President Bush read the story too...

[Gość: wacko jacko]

UFO.
I am still not convinced.
In my opinion it;s a hoax done with anonymiser.

[Gość: awalk]

Gość portalu: wacko jacko napisał(a):

> UFO.
> I am still not convinced.
> In my opinion it;s a hoax done with anonymiser.

So who is Salam Pax and what would be the purpose of this hoax in your opinion?

[tynski]

Agent Whacked hasn't read his weekly talking points and
is at his wit's end on this one. To keep the sinecure he
must finagle an Osama and Saddam's out-of-wedlock son
(how those male Ay-rabs make themselves babies I will
never know) lurking in the rubble of Baghdad, oops, I
mean in the squalid slums of Damascus, to spew
anti-American bilious bilge.

[chickenshorts]

tynski napisała:

> Agent Whacked hasn't read his weekly talking points and
> is at his wit's end on this one. To keep the sinecure he
> must finagle an Osama and Saddam's out-of-wedlock son
> (how those male Ay-rabs make themselves babies I will
> never know) lurking in the rubble of Baghdad, oops, I
> mean in the squalid slums of Damascus, to spew
> anti-American bilious bilge.

'Laser' thinking, ma'am! So, Whacky's just playing dumb to provoke us to give
more clues as to the Pax's whereabouts... Hmm...

[Gość: wacko jacko]

To miss tynski. Do yourself a favor, with two fingers.

To others. I have no idea what would be the purpose of this hoax.
The satelite TV was not available in Iraq on a subscription basis. It was
strictly forbidden. Only the rulers had access to it.
Internet was available only to a privileged few. One service provider with
absolute content control.
Salam Pax appears to be a person (foreigner?), residing in Baghdad and using a
satelite telephone or some other kind of communication gear. In a city with no
juice the only way to upload an email is thru the satelite uplink.
He might be writing from Sydney, Australia using a computer program enabling
him to disguise his identity. Haw can you prove he is not just doing that?
To me it is not entirely kosher.

[Gość: awalk]

"...people selling you computer cases who tell you these are electric warmers, never having seen a computer case before..."

"...Back to the weapons. The prices have been going up because they are being bought from the market in big quantities. One of the very few bright ideas our new American administration has been having was if the looters want money for the stolen weapons let's pay them for bringing them to us..."

dearraed.blogspot.com/
btw waco kosher or not I find it very interesting.

[Gość: chickenShorts]

"kosher or not I find it very interesting."


It's kosher all right and... Very interesting!

"American civil administration in Iraq is having a shortage of Bright ideas. I
keep wondering what happened to the months of “preparation” for a “post-saddam”
Iraq. What happened to all these 100-page reports, where is that Dick Cheney
report? Why is every single issue treated like they have never thought it would
come up? What’s with the juggling of people and ideas about how to form
that “interim government”? Why does it feel like they are using the [lets-try-
this-lets-try-that] strategy? Trial and error on a whole country?
The various bodies that have been installed here don’t seem to have much
coordination between them. We all need to feel that big sure and confident
strides forward are being taken; it is not like this at all. And how about
stopping empty pointless gestures and focusing on things that are real
problems? Can anyone tell me what the return of children to schools really
means? Other than it makes nice 6 o’clock news footage."

[Gość: wacko jacko]

I know who Salam Pax is.
His real name is Jason Blair.

[Gość: awalk]

Gość portalu: wacko jacko napisał(a):

> I know who Salam Pax is.
> His real name is Jason Blair.

Jason?

[Gość: wacko jacko]

Yes, Jason Blair of formerly New York Times.
Use your google search engine.

www.nbc4.com/news/2199411/detail.html

[Gość: chickenShorts]

Gość portalu: wacko jacko napisał(a):

"I know who Salam Pax is.
His real name is Jason Blair."
> Yes, Jason Blair of formerly New York Times.
> Use your google search engine.

I knew you would come up with this! But what took you so long?

From Baghdad ?

[Gość: wacko jacko]

Chickenshorts you must be connected to some paranormal forces.
You knew something I didn't know.

In other words, you believe that Salam Pax is a real resident of Baghdad
and he writes the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
( So help him God ). Knock yourself out.

In the end it is what you want to believe in. In this case you want to, I
don't.

[Gość: awalk]

Gość portalu: wacko jacko napisał(a):

> Yes, Jason Blair of formerly New York Times.
> Use your google search engine.
>
> www.nbc4.com/news/2199411/detail.html

Oops, yes I wrote about it here forum.gazeta.pl/forum/72,2.html?f=517&w=4756464&a=6002577
Somehow his name didn't register. But seriously, my initial question stands. What is going on? Why do they attack 'a man of color'? I mean they are usually protected species. What has he really done? And what is it they are not writing about?

[Gość: wacko jacko]

Read this:
sf.indymedia.org/news/2003/05/1610323.php

[Gość: awalk]

Gość portalu: wacko jacko napisał(a):

> Read this:
> sf.indymedia.org/news/2003/05/1610323.php

Thanks a lot waco, this is exactly what I was looking for. I owe you one. Now to make the story complete, I am looking forward to Jason's one.

[Gość: wacko jacko]

There it is:
www.msnbc.com/news/914527.asp
No, they haven't posted it on the web. The bean counters want your money.
You've got to buy a copy of Newsweek.

Bad link, sorry

[Gość: wacko jacko]

I apologize for that bad link. Here is the good one:
www.msnbc.com/news/914096.asp?0nw=n2d

salam pax & jason blair

[Gość: chickenShorts]

Hey, Wacky, I found something for you:

Salam Pax has gone missing

Published on: March 27, 2003
Edition: FINAL
Section: TODAY
Page: 3E
Byline: SUN NATIONAL STAFF

Laura Sullivan


As Pentagon press conferences blend into each other and war coverage churns on,
Salam Pax, whoever and wherever he is, has captivated the world's
attention.Blending sarcasm and apparent sincerity, Salam Pax, an Austrian-
educated architectural engineer, and his Web site, "Where Is Raed?" -
dear_raed.blogspot.com - has chronicled life outside his Baghdad window
since September. His daily Web diary, or Weblog, had so many readers over the
weekend, more than 1 million, it

Click here for the complete text of article 1



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article 2 of 2 found.

Weblogs cover the war without mainstream restraints


Published on: March 27, 2003
Edition: FINAL
Section: TODAY
Page: 1E
Byline: SUN STAFF
Rona Kobell
Ayoung architectural engineer who calls himself "Salam Pax" writes that he's
been dodging Iraqi guards as he darts through a smoke-choked Baghdad on his way
to buy groceries.Sometimes, he disappears for days (he has been silent since
Monday), leaving the anxious readers of his Weblog, "Where Is Raed?" wondering
if he's alive. Thus far, though, he has returned each time, to paint a picture
of Iraqi suffering that is often more compelling than the grainy images

To unload the articles you have to register.

www.sunspot.net/search/bal-archive-1990.htmlstory

[Gość: awalk]

dear_raed.blogspot.com/
Some opinions:


"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.

Brian

Salam,

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

Yet another American

Salam!

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.

M

M

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.

Dan "

[Gość: awalk]

Ha ha, just look at this!

czytelnia.onet.pl/0,836581,wiadomosci.html
It seems that our forum finally inspired someone to do something positive. I just wonder if they have paid him for the rights.