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March 25, 2003
Broken glass
Andrew Sullivan writes in response to the latest from Salam Pax echoing a conversation I had today on the same subject. What are we to make of Salam Pax's somewhat ambivalent reactions? Sullivan's observations on this question - particularly concerning the failure to liberate Iraq after the first Gulf war - are convincing (via DaghtatorBlog).
That said, I found this latest Where is Raed? peculiar in its fixation on broken windows and the loss of some architecture. Basically, so what? Given the death which has happened, the death which is coming and the million deaths brought about by this regime I am baffled that the loss of a palace would bring on tears. It is not surprising, however, if this reaction is an inevitable confusion of emotions given the horrendous circumstance of uncertainty everyone in Baghdad will live through until the city is liberated. Even then, will the coalition make good on its promises or will we see Kuwait Mark II where one kleptocracy is replaced with another? We can only do our best to hold the Bush administration to its word and to the promise of a day when all Arabs are free.
There is, however, another question I have yet to see voiced anywhere in the blogosphere: who has regular internet access in fascist Iraq? Who has internet access days into the "shock and awe" phase of the air campaign? This is a country where whole families are disappeared and yet Salam Pax blogs away.
I think there is a tendency to empathize with a human voice talking to us from such alien circumstances. Let us assume Salam Pax is not a CIA/Mossad/etc. agent and that he is in fact writing from Baghdad. Let us assume he turns out to be the sympathetic fellow he seems to be from his writing and not someone will ties to the Ba'athist regime. This remains one blog and the views expressed are those of one blogger. We should not take his views on broken glass and trashed palaces to represent the views of Baghdad.
Posted by Ghost of a flea at March 25, 2003 12:58 PM
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