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  Monday  May 12  2003    02: 06 AM

iraq

Salam Pax is back!

Where is Raed ?

5 US Dollars for a single hour of browsing. Talk about someone milking it, I wonder if they would let me pay for only half an hour.
I am not complaining; I would not have believed anyone who would have told me a week ago that I will be able to browse at all. There are more of these centers popping up here and there so the prices will go down. Besides I have heard today that a NGO called [Communication sans frontiers] has arrived in Iraq and will help. They will probably be doing what the Red Cross is doing, a center in Baghdad and a team moving around Iraq. The Red Cross has been moving its phone service, if you can call it that, around Baghdad. Two days for each district and they depend on the word of mouth to spread the news, usually they end up with huge lines and waiting lists but everybody is grateful. Many people have no way telling their relatives abroad how they are doing. A couple of Arabic TV stations, mainly Jazeera, has been putting their cameras in the street and allowing people to send regards to their relatives abroad, tell them they are OK hoping that they would be watching at the time. So what the Red Cross has been doing, and I think what Communication sans frontiers would ultimately be doing is much appreciated. The only way to communicate with the world otherwise is to go buy a Thuraya phone, very expensive by any standard ($700 down from $1500 two weeks ago, that is not counting the call charges). I don’t know how long it will take until a network can be put up. Since the one we had is now reduced to ruble.

[more]

  thanks to Body and Soul

The US finally admits it's an occupying power (now they can take the oil), the reconstruction efforts look like it's either being run by the Keystone Cops or the Three Stooges, and just where are those Weapons of Mass Destruction?

Iraq Inc: A joint venture built on broken promises

A Minister Quits, Buildings Burn, Rubbish Rots. So Much for the 'Reconstruction'

Iraq in Danger of Starvation, says UN

US rivals turn on each other as weapons search draws a blank
One key argument for war was the peril from weapons of mass destruction. Now top officials are worried by repeated failures to find the proof - and US intelligence agencies are engaged in a struggle to avoid the blame

Frustrated, U.S. Arms Team to Leave Iraq
Task Force Unable To Find Any Weapons [Editor: Duh!]

Iraq's Ragged Reconstruction
A Month After Baghdad's Fall, U.S. Efforts Founder

Bremer of Iraq