BuzzMachine

Great news: Iranian blogger Sina Motellebi is free
: Sina Motallebi, the Iranian blogger who was arrested because of what he wrote on his weblog and was awaiting trial under the mullahs’ thumb, has escaped Iran with his wife and young child and is safe in Europe.

And he’s blogging again (note the gap in his blog from April until December).

Hossein Derakhshan (Hoder), who did a great job bringing Motallebi’s case to the attention of the world, talked with him.

Congratulations Sina and congratulations Hoder. It’s a shame that these talented people had to leave Iran but I’m confident they’ll return and create a new Iran soon enough.

: Here’s my original post on Motallebi’s arrest. A lot came out of that post for me. It was through this news that I discovered Hossein Derakhshan and the amazing story of the Iranian weblog revolution. It was because of the wonderous things happening online in Iran — even Iran — that I started wishing for an explosion of weblogs in newly freed Iraq. It was because of those posts that Zeyad started blogging. It was because Zeyad started blogging that others in Iraq blogged, and that I sent him a camera, and that his reporting is being seen around the world. It was because of Sina Motallebi’s arrest that I, for one, learned a great deal about Iran and then Iraq and met and became friends with many amazing and brave webloggers in both countries. It was because of Sina Motallebi and Hossein Derakhshan and Zeyad and all the other Iranian and Iraqi bloggers that I saw the true power of this citizens’ media.

We are all connected.

: Here’s a link to an op-ed I wrote about Sina, with links to other posts about him. And here’s Hoder’s original post about the arrest.

No. 2 nabbed?
: There’s a report that Saddam’s No. 2, who led the terrorist attacks aka insurgency, is nabbed:

The reputed head of the Iraqi insurgency surrendered to US forces at dawn yesterday, Al-Arabiya television reported last night.

The reported surrender of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the highest ranking member of the former regime still at large, follows the arrest at the weekend of two leaders of the insurgency along with Saddam Hussein.

More good news.

Saddam burns (fictional) twin towers
: The Telegraph finds a copy of a novel Saddam wrote just before the war, detailing his fantasy — oy, was it a fantasy — resistance against the invading Americans… and also destroying twin towers.

Saddam Hussein spent the final weeks before the war writing a novel predicting that he would lead an underground resistance movement to victory over the Americans, rather than planning the defence of his regime.

As the war began and Saddam went into hiding 40,000 copies of Be Gone Demons! were rolling off the presses.

Most were destroyed by bombing and looting but the Telegraph has obtained one of the few remaining copies of the novel – an historical epic which reveals both Saddam’s increasing detachment from the world and his inflated sense of self.

Yes, but now it has a new ending.

: Now get a load of this excerpt. The Romans are the Americans; the intro is the Telegraph’s explanation:

Following the Romans’ rout from Iraq, Ezekiel and the Roman king return to their own country to find the twin towers of the Roman capital on fire:

Then Ezekiel Hescel and the king of the Romans saw the twin towers of the Roman’s city on fire. Ezekiel Hescel was beating his face and saying, “Everything I’ve collected is gone.”

One of the Romans was laughing at Ezekiel and advised him: “Try building another two towers and sell the one and rent the other to the Roman king! Both you and the Roman king will rot in hell.”

Arabs had set the towers on fire. How adventurous they are when they become nervous! The Roman watched the blaze and wondered who had done it. The king said: “Our enemies are great in numbers.” Ezekiel Hescel answered no.”Such a fedeyeen attack could only be carried out by the Arabs”.

Fisking Fisk
: Compare these two reports of the same events. Robert Fisk in the so-called Independent:

While Washington and London were still congratulating themselves on the capture of Saddam Hussein, US troops have shot dead at least 18 Iraqis in the streets of three major cities in the country.

Dramatic videotape from the city of Ramadi 75 miles west of Baghdad showed unarmed supporters of Saddam Hussein being gunned down in semi-darkness as they fled from Americans troops. Eleven of the 18 dead were killed by the Americans in Samarra to the north of Baghdad.

All the killings came during demonstrations by Sunni Muslims against the American seizure of Saddam, protests that started near Samarra on Monday evening. The first demonstrators blocked roads north of Baghdad when armed men appeared alongside civilians who believed – initially – that US forces had arrested one of Saddam’s doubles rather than the ex-dictator of Iraq.

Now see the L.A. Times:

U.S. troops killed 11 Iraqi guerrillas north of Baghdad in a prolonged gun battle in which armed insurgents used schoolchildren for cover as they fired on soldiers, military officials said today….

Also, U.S. forces were involved in clashes triggered by pro-Saddam Hussein demonstrations in the Sunni Triangle cities of Ramadi, Tikrit and Fallouja. The demonstrators in support of the recently captured Iraqi leader attacked local government offices and police stations, as those are operations seen as collaborating with the occupation forces. U.S. soldiers fired on demonstrators in Ramadi, killing three and wounding several others.

In the town of Fallujah overnight, rioting Iraqis blew up the offices of the U.S.-appointed mayor, fired rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. forces and attacked a train carrying U.S. military supplies. Seven Iraqis were reported killed, and at least three American soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb.

In Samarra, members of a patrol from the 2nd Infantry Division suffered no casualties as they were ambushed twice while traveling through the city, according to the U.S. Central Command. The attack was launched shortly after a large flock of pigeons took flight in what military officials said was an apparent signal of the troops’ arrival.

Somebody isn’t getting this story right. Who could that be?

Red dawns on them
: The Guardian just figures out that Operation Red Dawn was named after an anti-commie movie of the ’80s. That’s just right for the generation that led the operation. It could be worse. In my company, the geeks have been known to name servers after rare and unprounouncable scotches. How does Operation Glenglassaugh sound?

How come?
: Baghdad Skies asks:

Why don’t western journalists get onto the streets in Iraq and patiently, systematically ask individual Iraqis what they want, believe, aspire to. Any old fool can stand on a roof, next to a satellite dish, and spout secondhand news off the wires.

: Separately, Baghdad blogger Ays says:

I say Saddam should not be executed, he should imprisoned for the rest of his life and watch how Iraq, the country that he had destroyed, will progress and become the prosperous and model country , so I think the execution will relieve him, but when he is humiliated in the prison, he will die and die everyday.

: And Omar says:

-Civil libraries distributing the picture of Saddam (with his hairy face holding his ugly bear) for free to the Iraqi citizens; it seems to be the most popular picture now.

-Saddam loyalists spread the rumor that he was, somehow, anaesthetized before being captured and that this is the reason why he didn’t fight….

-The GC proposes to announce the 14th of December a national anniversary and an official holiday. The idea is much welcomed by the majority of Iraqi people.

: Baghdad Burning finally posts post-Saddam but, curiously, has no real reaction to the event and what it means to her. Odd duck.

Yes, and they’re going to get Osama for Christmas
: Dakroland in the comments can’t believe that he hasn’t seen much linking and lightening about this:

The Washington congressman who criticized President Bush while visiting Baghdad last year has questioned the timing of the capture of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Rep. Jim McDermott (search), D-Wash., told a Seattle radio station Monday the U.S. military could have found Saddam “a long time ago if they wanted.” Asked if he thought the weekend capture was timed to help Bush, McDermott chuckled and said: “Yeah. Oh, yeah.”

The Democratic congressman went on to say, “There’s too much by happenstance for it to be just a coincidental thing.” …

“It’s funny,” McDermott added, “when they’re having all this trouble, suddenly they have to roll out something.” …

Last year, Vance and other Republicans labeled McDermott “Baghdad Jim” for comments he made during a trip to Baghdad that President Bush “would mislead the American people” but that Saddam could be trusted.

On Monday, Democrats joined the criticism of McDermott.

You’re right. You got us. It’s a vast worldwide conspiracy (well, except for the French, Germans, and Russians). We all agreed to hide Saddam in a hole until he smelled really bad and looked worse and until we needed him.

But be warned: Next, we’re going to bring out some WMDs from the closet.

Twit.

The pain of years past
: Zeyad has another thoughtful post about his sadness these last few days. It confuses him; seeing Saddam humiliated, he expected to be celebrating. But, it seems to me, this instead only bring back the pain and suffering and needless torture of the Saddam years:

I still haven’t been able to get rid of this deep sadness that has overcome me the last two days. People have been emailing asking me to explain. I wish I could, but I simply can’t….

The images were shocking. I couldn’t make myself believe this was the same Saddam that slaughtered hundreds of thousands and plundered my country’s wealth for decades. The humiliation I experienced was not out of nationalistic pride or Islamic notions of superiority or anything like that as some readers suggested. It was out of a feeling of impotence and helplessness. This was just one old disturbed man yet the whole country couldn’t dispose of him. We needed a superpower from the other side of the ocean to come here and ‘get him’ for us….

And I’m still wondering why? Why did he have to put himself into this? Why did he have to destroy Iraq? What did he gain from all of this?