November 11, 2004

raed in the midde I called my family to see what was happening there. One of our friends living in Abu-Ghreib told us about how a US helicopters attacked their entire neighbourhood after a US patrol was attacked from that area. He said that they have holes in the ceilings of their house because of the random attack. This collective punishment is very close to how the israeli forces treat Palestinians, trying to put pressure on the civilians not to accept any fighter in their street. As if it was the civilians� duty to go after fighters and stop them. My family said that many districts in the west of Baghdad are blocked, the streets leading to the areas near the airport (Al-Jihad, Al-Amryya, Al-Ghazalyya, Al-khadraa, and others) are closed due to street fighting. The airport highway is closed too. They said that the sound of explosions and bullets is continuous. My uncle lives in Ad-Dora in southern Baghdad, and they are having similar street clashes there too.
posted by raed jarrar 20 years ago
  • Raed, you're welcome to stay as far as I'm concerned, but we don't care for self-links.
  • Double-post self link, at that Meh, still better than my website.
  • There are exceptions to every rule, and this is one self-link I have no problem with. Raed's blog does qualify as best of the web, imo. Welcome, Raed.
  • I was going to comment "get your own blog", but apparently, you already do.
  • If you're really *that* Raed, big ups to you and welcome!
  • Raed, I wish it were possible to roll back time and correct all the evil that's been perpetrated on your country. There is no excuse, none at all for what's happened there. None. Failing that, I hope that all of this works out and those responsible for perpetrating it are brought to justice and forced to pay for it in every possible way.
  • is *that* raed the other raed? the first raed? or the second?
  • Raed is rad.
  • Well, welcome to the monkeyhouse, Raed! I've been following your blog, and your familiy's blog, for quite a while. I almost feel that I know your mother!
  • but is this raed THAT raed? if so, we'll read the real rad raed.
  • OK, raed, please clear this up once and for all: are you or are you not the same raed as in "where is raed?" and if so, why aren't you blogging there anymore? just curious.
  • (the raed who wrote under the name Salam Pax, i mean...)
  • (this raed) The Guardian (London) - Final Edition October 22, 2004 HEADLINE: G2: Alone in the land of dreams: In the run-up to the Iraq conflict, a web diary from Baghdad captured a global following. Its author, Salam Pax , reluctantly supported the invasion. Now he journeys for the first time to the city where the decision was taken for war - and asks if it's already too late for freedom in his country BYLINE: Salam Pax BODY: I really don't like my passport; it is too big and has a colour that reminds you of something that has been sitting too long in your fridge. But what I hate most about it is that when an immigration officer takes a look at it they will usually ask me to step aside and follow them into a small room. Everybody in the airport immigration queue at JFK in New York already hates me because it is taking too long and now that I am being led away like this it makes everyone look at me as if I have just threatened to assassinate their favourite cartoon character.
  • if not, of course we still say hi, have a banana...
  • Welcome Raed! I've always wondered if any of the Iraqi bloggers would be interested in a place like this. I hated it when the US went in to "liberate" your country, and that, once there, we made so many other mistakes. And that so many Iraqis are being killed or wounded. I can't imagine what it must be like to have lived in Iraq for the last year and a half. I also see that even some of those Iraqi bloggers who approved of Saddam's overthrow seem to be losing hope. Several have offered suggestions about how to handle the cultural differences, and I have to imagine that Iraqis in the interim government must have tried to do the same directly to the Americans there, but it doesn't seem anyone is listening. Or, do you think nothing would have mitigated the situation? (Off topic - what ever became of Salam Pax? On preview, I was under the imression that you and Salam are friends rather than the same person.)
  • I'm under that impression too, path.
  • thank you all, happy u enjoyed the post. :*) thanx for the banana
  • where is raed was intended as a collaboration b/t raed and salam, but raed rarely posted. as I recall. Salam may be kept up with here. Or you could for a while, at least. and welcome, indeed!
  • Hey Raed, welcome to Monkeyfilter! I met Salam briefly while he was in Vancouver. It's silly but I feel like I know both of you from the films and the blogs. Thanks so much for doing them! (But can anyone introduce me to Riverbend?)
  • verbose, there and email address on her site (riverbend@velocall.com). Introduce yourself.
  • just to try to keep this in the sidebar till the other half of the world wakes up.
  • I hope Raed wasn't just doing a drive-by. I'd be very interested as to his thoughts on other matters as they arise. Reading his blog is not quite the same thing as having him comment here. Of course, he may have other priorities than buying socks for his iPod, but, you know.
  • Welcome, Raed. I'm going to move this into the double-post category, and recommend ever-so politely that you have a quick read of the FAQ before posting next time. But I look forward to seeing more from you. :) Socks for iPods!?
  • Riverbend is blogging daily again, btw. It's pretty harrowing.
  • Oh, lord. PatB's post was really distressing. None of us wants to see our troops go through that. On the other hand, there's no one out there I know of who's personalizing the plight of those fighting agains them. And trycicle, I'm sorry that you moved this to "double post." Raed is something of a star in the Iraqi blogs. While I think he's in Jordan now, and out of the battle zone, most of his family is still in Baghdad, and suffering from the fighting that is going on. Also, if you read his blog, he spent months documenting the Iraqi casualties that the initial US attacks caused. And, he is the raed from the first Iraqi blogger, salam pax's blog, which started before the US attacked Iraq. This stuff is historical in its own internet way. And, I did confrim that it's the real raed. In a way, I think we're too silly for him to stay here long (though, I think a little silly might lighten up his life.) But it seems really to "administrative" to send this to Coventry.