Baghdad Blogger!

Amazing. If anyone doubts the web has long since come of age. An excellent weblog from a Baghdad resident:

RAED BLOG


22/3
4:30pm (day3)
half an hour ago the oil filled trenches were put on fire. First watching Al-jazeera they said that these were the places that got hit by bombs from an air raid a few miniutes earlier bit when I went up to the roof to take a look I saw that there were too many of them, we heard only three explosions. I took pictures of the nearest. My cousine came and told me he saw police cars standing by one and setting it on fire. Now you can see the columns of smoke all over the city.
Todat the third in the war, we had quite a number of attacks during daytime. Some without air-raid sirens. They probably just gave up on being able to be on time to sound the sirens. Last night, after waves after waves of attacks, they would sound the all-clear siren only to start another raid siren 30 minutes later.
The images we saw on TV last night (not Iraqi, jazeera-BBC-Arabiya) were terrible. The whole city looked as if it were on fire. The only thing I could think of was �why does this have to happen to Baghdad�. As one of the buildings I really love went up in a huge explosion I was close to tears.
today my father and brother went out to see what happening in the city, they say that it does look that the hits were very precise but when the missiles and bombs explode they wreck havoc in the neighborhood where they fall. Houses near al-salam palace(where the minister Sahaf took journalist) have had all their windows broke, doors blown in and in one case a roof has caved in. I guess that is what is called �collateral damage� and that makes it OK?
We worry about daytime bombing and the next round of attacks tonight with the added extra of the smoke screen in our skies.


[Edited on 24-3-2003 by William]

It asked for me to download something, so I did and opened it in notepad ... Nothing but gibberish though. How do I view the file???

I was able to view it with the first link, haven't tried the second. Good day by day of what's going on from an Iraqi point of view...

Warhol said that in the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.

I think what we are seeing,with the web,is a new imformed world where anyone can report the news to the entire world without editorial and state control.As long as comunication networks remain open and uncensored then we can have access to independent news and views.

Here is an excellent example.While BBC,Fox,or CNN are trying to tell us what Iraqis are experiencing and thinking here we can read firsthand.

It would be nice if we could make contact and invite him/her to keep us regularly updated.

It is also a reminder why it is important to tolerate the diverse views on this board from poster from around the world.Even if you disagree with the views posted by someone from France,Britain,Belgium,Holland,Israel,USA,Canada,New Zealand,Australia,Malaysia,Caribean(I apologise for any I have forgotten) then at least be grateful that you are reading that view without it being filtered through your national media.It can,at the very least,only leave you better imformed.

Then why does the link trace to Santa Clara?

Sound advice J-B, and if anyone wishes to pursue this palindrome-addicted character's site, it's been in the British "qualities" for a while: check the Times or the Guardian.

There ARE doubts on the net in other blogs about its authenticity.....

Hmm...it hasn't been updated since the 24th....