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The Iraqi blogosphere is a year old

16 comments on The Iraqi blogosphere is a year old

The Iraqi blogosphere is a year old

: Of course, Salam Pax started blogging more than a year ago. But I just realized that blogs started spreading a year ago this week when Zeyad started blogging and getting others to blog and it has grown from there. (Here is the wonderful email Zeyad sent me before he started blogging.) Since then, more and more bloggers have joined in with more perspectives and we have learned so much from these good people as they have shared their lives with us through a year of great possibilities and greater trials.

: I neglected to link to this remarkable post by Omar on his meeting with Kerry Dupont and Jim Hake of Spirit of America and other Iraqi media leaders in Jordan. They are doing great work together.

: Here is an update on the work of Spirit of America by the Wall Street Journal’s Dan Henninger.

16 responses to “The Iraqi blogosphere is a year old”

  1. Pj Avatar
    Pj

    I raise my glass to Zeyad, the first hero of their blog revolution; to the optimistic, fearless ITM brothers; to Alaa, the lyrical poet of the new Iraq; to all the other brave Iraqis And thanks to you, Jeff, for helping them find their voices. I can’t tell you how much their compelling messages from across the world have changed me. It has been a mesmerizing, tumultuous, and ultimately joyful year.
    A’ash al Iraq!

  2. Jeffrey -- New York Avatar
    Jeffrey — New York

    Jeff, I’ve followed the Iraqi Bloggers from the beginning, just like you. Here is the first entry from Omar of the ITM brothers:
    >Friday, November14 ,2003
    >My first blog
    >You can not imagine how happy I was when I created this blog and published my first article, after years of being imprisoned inside the walls that Saddam’s regime built around Iraq.
    >I am really grateful to my friends A.Y.S and Zeyad who gave me all help and support to start.
    >Thank you very much.
    >- posted by Omar @16 : 20
    Just a few days ago Omar, along with his brother Mohammed, left flew out of Iraq for the first time in his life (with his first passport in hand), just eleven months after his first blog entry. He stayed in Amman for a few days and met Kerry Dupont and other bloggers. Then they returned to Baghdad:
    >This may sound silly but It

  3. Robert McClelland Avatar
    Robert McClelland

    None of you have learned dick from them because you only believe the ones who tell you what you want to hear. They’re just another part of the echo chamber.

  4. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    pj,
    That’s “nice” what you say. But the problem is that their voice is NOT the voice of the general Iraqi public. You can wish otherwise though, however, from wishing to reality there might be a huge gap, as it is the case here.

  5. Kat Avatar
    Kat

    Yes, their voice isn’t the voice of terrorists, and some of us prefer that voice to the voices of Zeyad and other anti-terrorists. There are those which scream jihad and death to America. And guys like Zeyad prefer democracy to islamic shariaism. Which ones do you prefer Faramir and Robert?

  6. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    general Iraqi public = terrorists ?????
    If you think so as you suggest, well, then so be it.
    BTW, YOU are not Iraqis and YOUR country has not been invaded, so I don’t think the general Iraqi public that you’d rather to call them terrorists care what “some of YOU” prefer?

  7. J.R. Avatar
    J.R.

    Robert and Faramin, care to post any links to the sentiment of the rest of the Iraqi public?
    Who the hell are you two to contradict the statements of those who are there? People who offer insight to the goings on there in a way not portrayed by the world media.
    Please back up your arguments, otherwise you two are just spewing venom for some alternate purpose.

  8. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    J.R.
    You know, I don’t give damn what you think and I don’t need to try to prove to you that no decent person can accept occupation of his/her country and a puppet government headed by a CIA agent who is installed not by his/her countrymen but by bunch of powerful foreigners thousands of miles away. That’s as simple as that.
    How are YOU backing up the claim that these few bloggers who happen to be rich enough to afford the “luxury” of internet in the country where people are struggling for the basics, are the voices of general Iraqi public?

  9. Jeff Jarvis Avatar
    Jeff Jarvis

    And “Faramin,” how the hell do we know who or what the hell you are?
    Those Iraqi bloggers are risking their very lives with their public opinions and they have the balls to put their names on their weblogs.
    You have no such balls.
    And before you and Kat and Robert company start your pissing match again, I’ll say it again:
    Take it outside. I really don’t have the patience for your snipefests. I know it makes you feel big and important. But really big people have the guts to give a name and a web address. You don’t.

  10. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    Speaking of backing up, what the heck, here is a US-friendly poll as it is a US-financed poll by the International Republican Institute:
    The poll indicated that the most popular politician is Abdel Aziz Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. The group was part of the US-backed opposition to Saddam Hussein and is receiving millions of dollars in aid from Iran, US officials say.
    Mullahs; Iranian stooges are the most popular in Iraq. This IS a disaster that can only happen by the stupidity of Bush Administration…AND I am talking as an Iranian.

  11. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    “pissinhg match” is just an excuse Jeff. You just don’t want me respond to the bullshits that you happen to agree with.
    Do you know who J.R. is? Or do you know who kat is? You seem to only have problems with me. What is in my writing that makes you so nervous Jeff? I don’t even write well in English.
    If you don’t wish me to write here, have the courage (better word than balls) to say so. You once said that this site is your home and I agree with that and I WILL RESPECT THAT and I will also accept the fact that I shouldn’t be here if I am not invited (Although, YOU support an army who is the real uninvited guest and has occupied another country). I wish you would apply your own so-called principles on other issues as well.
    I am not in the business of “pissing match” with anybody. I am just expressing my point of views. If you don’t want me to, please say so.

  12. Robert McClelland Avatar
    Robert McClelland

    Which ones do you prefer Faramir and Robert?
    I like all of them, Kat. Even the ones I disagree with.

  13. Kat Avatar
    Kat

    Keep me out of your pissing match. I simply asked a question, and if that was wrong, I apologize to a really big people who has the guts to give a name and a web address. I’m just a small people without a swelled head.

  14. Kat Avatar
    Kat

    Keep me out of your pissing match. I simply asked a question, and if that was wrong, I apologize to a really big people who has the guts to give a name and a web address. I’m just a small people without a swelled head.

  15. MPF Avatar
    MPF

    Simply putting a question mark after a statement does not transmogrify it into an interrogatory. The three of you would be laughable if you weren’t so debasing, and you permit no intellectual or reasonable discourse on this site by your very presence. That is a shame, especially for someone like Mr. Jarvis who genuinely attempts to promote civil discourse.
    For God’s sake, grow up.

  16. Rachel Avatar
    Rachel

    I agree with Jeff. They may be a few, but they have a right to speak their mind just as much as those who hate the US with or without purpose. what happened to my side (liberal)? We used to be tolerant, flexible, and understanding