· May, 2006

Stories about Iraq from May, 2006

Iraq: Incomplete cabinet

  31 May 2006

Observers and Mohammed do not expect any considerable progress to happen soon and it seems that there will be more obstacles to deal with before the cabinet is complete. It makes Mohammed feels that the sound and smoke of explosions in Baghdad were not enough to wake up our politicians...

Kurdistance: NGO Project Update

  31 May 2006

Ok, so maybe the title of today's post is a little bit of a misnomer, but our commentators today all mention NGO projects…and I'll give you some extra links to other Kurdish NGO projects as well. Pearls of Iraq officially starts her purple ribbon campaign for the people of Iraq...

Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome

  26 May 2006

There is a new government and this historic event has raised more than a ripple in the Iraqi blogs, but, actually, not much more than that. And in this week snapshot of life in Iraq blogs I will show what has been diverting bloggers attention. From high jinks to the...

Kurdistance: What's Montenegro Got to Do With It?

  24 May 2006

And yes, there was the Tina Turner song “What's love got to do with it?” floating in my head in the background when I wrote that title. While the world watched the vote creating an independent Montenegro, the Kurds were watching the same events with mixed feelings. Hiwa from Hiwa...

Flying over the Iraqi Blogodrome…

  20 May 2006

…almost literally (I'm plane-blogging again). I thought about this again and again and there is no other way to describe what passes for government in Iraq. Today I give you some snapshots of a failed state. And this is the subject that dominates the Iraqi blogs. If you read only...

Arabisk – The Arabic Bloggers Ken

  19 May 2006

The following is an abbreviated translation from some of the Arabic-language blogsphere. Music… Amal, in her latest cartoon: “See my Wawa, kiss my Wawa.” The Wawa is the little tiny hurt “ouch”.. In this cartoon; a poor bleeding Palestinian child is begging from a wealthy Arabian man who seems not...

Kurdistance: Finding Rebirth in Grief

  17 May 2006

For my regular readers, I apologize for my absence, I lost a much beloved Uncle to Cancer of the Esophagus and was away dealing with family matters. In reading through the Kurdish blogs this week, I found a posting From Holland to Kurdistan with a similar situation: I feel sorry...

Iraq: Raed, Richard Perle, Iraq and Iran

  16 May 2006

Raed corners Richard Perle over Iraq and his support for “Iranian Chalabis” while out shopping. Perle gave Read his personal contact details and asked for information on any non-violent Iranian groups. If you know anybody, please tell Raed.

Flying Over the Iraqi Blogodrome…

  13 May 2006

…almost literally. I am completing this post in an airplane somewhere over Turkey and Iran. If I look out of my window I can point to an area of the darkness outside that might be Iraq. Worth the delay just so that I can say this! This week I have...

Iraq: Shot for being Gay!

  12 May 2006

14-year-old Ahmed Khalil has been shot, according to witnesses, by Iraqi police officers for being gay. According to his neighbours in the al-Dura area of Baghdad, Khalil was shot at point-blank range, after a scuffle with the police. QArab has the details.

Iraq: Oil Ministry Fire

  8 May 2006

Zeyad reports that a fire destroyed the accounts and records floors of the Iraqi Oil Ministry. As a result, employees have been told that salaries cannot be paid for some time. He posts a photo and reports rumours that the fire was started deliberately to hide a corruption scandal.

Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome

  6 May 2006

The biggest barrier to understanding the reality of today's Iraq is not being able to feel what it is like living in a state of continuous war and lawlessness. On Wednesday the BBC led on the story that 50 people had been killed in one day in Iraq. Yet the...

Iraq: Iraqi-style backfire

  2 May 2006

There is a growing sense of uncertainty in dealing with the Iran issue, even among the anti-war movement itself. This is what the “catch-22 discourse” portraying the Iranian situation looks like: Preemptive strike = an Iraqi-style backfire But no strike = a Nuclear Iran Raed trying to answer the question:...