Flying to Baghdad

Flying to Baghdad
: I shipped a camera to Zeyad in Baghdad (to be picked up at the FedEx offices; it’s not a great thing to have a U.S. truck rumbling into your neighborhood). It will take a week to get there. And what’s shocking — here’s the point of telling you — is that the shipping cost half as much as the camera itself. I’m more than happy to do it; not complaining. But if others are going to help more Iraqi bloggers (not to mention bloggers from other countries), there has to be a better way…

: Zeyad also translates a wonderful story from Iraq today:

On a lighter note. Fuad, an Iraqi citizen has been displaying Saddam Hussein’s infamous

military suit at Tahrir square in downtown Baghdad. He confessed to Azzaman that he got the suit from one of Saddam’s presidential sites in Baghdad after the war. He has been offering it since for rental to interested customers to wear for souvenir pictures. His fees range from 500 Dinars (25 cents) wearing the suit to 1000 Dinars for a walk in it. An American officer offered Fuad 200 Dollars for the suit but he refused stating that he depended on it for his livelihood, he was making 15 thousand Dinars a day from renting the suit to Baghdadis. The funniest thing is that Fuad employed 2 of his relatives as bodyguards for fear on the suit from getting stolen. (From Azzaman)

7 responses to “Flying to Baghdad”

  1. ....a moment with Easycure Avatar
    ….a moment with Easycure

    I hope he can get some good pictures…..

  2. Mike G Avatar

    You know, it may seem like it cost a lot.
    I bet it cost a lot more to drop radios behind enemy lines to the Resistance in WWII.
    Have some perspective here– a few months ago this was a fascist dictatorship, then it was a war zone, now it’s a quagmire (said sarcastically)– and you’re bitchin’ that you didn’t get the same rate you’d get to frickin’ Santa Barbara?

  3. Jeff Jarvis Avatar

    Amen and well-said, Mike!

  4. Paul Hrissikopoulos Avatar

    Maybe the prices will go down when cargo carriers no longer have to spend so much patching up the blast damage on their planes.

  5. Jeremy Avatar

    Heck, ever mailed anything in the US? It’s expensive. I mailed some books today, and it was $8.50 priority, or $6 parcel post. After some cajoling I was able to convice the postal employee that I could send the books book rate, for $2.50, but I had to go through quite a bit of hassle.

  6. dog of flanders Avatar

    which inevitably leads to the question:
    can you sell baathist memorabilia on ebay-france?

  7. PJ Avatar

    Send me an email with the address you shipped it to.
    I can send him photoshop and a number of 3rd party photoshop filters so it can make his photography a little easier.
    My friend also works in the printer division for a large manufacturer. I am going to forward Zeyahds info to them to see if I can get corporate America to help him out a little.