Dean's World

Welcome to the Carnival of the Liberated, a sampler of some of the best posts from Iraqi bloggers. As promised I'm featuring some of the Westerners blogging from Iraq. And the Iraqi bloggers have been very, very busy. We've got more on grief, WMD's, a nuclear physicist, cultural integration, the high cost of living, an old taxi driver and lots more.

There are quite a few Westerners currently blogging from Iraq. Chris Allbritton of Back to Iraq 3.0 is a free-lance journalist currently in Baghdad. He's got an excellent al Sharq interview with General Muhammad Abdullah Shahwani, Iraq's intelligence chief.

More information on what the official line is on the insurgency. Shahwani's generally been a good source, and I'm inclined to believe a lot of what he says—mainly because it matches a lot of what I've gotten from other folks.

I Should Have Stayed Home is a fabulous blog written by a “couple of guys”. Don't miss their post, Just another evening:

I have not cried in perhaps ten years. But tonight on short notice BC and I picked up Hussein and his wife, and in the back seat of my car he leaned over to her and said, "we are going to the hospital. Dhiyar, our son, has been shot." The wail of a mother in distress has a piercing note. I clutched the steering wheel, bit my lower lip, and drove as fast as I could without adding a sense of panic.

Here's the self-introduction of Ryan, the blogger of Cigars in the Sand:

Farmer by genetics, Lawyer by training, currently "vacationing" in Iraq and advising the Iraqi government on border security issues. Before moving to Baghdad, I served in the White House as Deputy Counsel for the Homeland Security Council.

Dahr Jamail is an independent journalist in Iraq:

The onslaught of Mosul has begun, as occupation forces are launching attacks into Iraq's third largest city. While there are mass resignations of police and elections polling staff there, yet another new police chief has been awarded control of the 1,000 strong police force-which was over 5,000 men just two months ago.

[…]

Of course clashes persist in "stabilized" Fallujah. Remember how the reason Fallujah bombed to the ground was to bring stability and security for the "elections?" Remember how Iraq was invaded because the past regime had weapons of mass destruction?

There are quite a few others posting from Iraq—more journalists, government workers, people working for NGO's, people working for companies, and lots and lots of great milbloggers. I follow as many as I can so if you can recommend any other non-milblogger Westerners actually blogging from Iraq now I'd appreciate knowing about them. Please leave links in the comments. If you can direct me to any I'm not following now, it would certainly be worth a hat tip.

A Citizen of Mosul posts about a typical day in the life of someone living in Mosul.

Abu Khaleel of A Glimpse of Iraq continues his series on Fat-ha, the traditional mourning practice, with a description of grief in the countryside.

Najma of A Star from Mosul now has enough time off from school to write and explain stuff.

Riverbend is complaining about the search for weapons of mass destruction.

Baghdad Dweller has a couple of good posts: a link round-up of conspiracy theories about the Sumatran tsunami and a post about the Cultural Smart Cards that American soldiers receive in Iraq. Don't miss this one.

Democracy in Iraq (is coming) has an interesting post about monarchy in Iraq.

Rose of Diary from Baghdad posts about the North, Eid, and elections.

Zeyad of Healing Iraq gives us a status update.

Najma spills the beans over on Iraq Blog Count: A Citizen of Mosul is her dad.

There's a new Iraqi blogger: Iraqi nuclear scientist Dr. Imad Khadduri. In both Arabic and English. (hat tip: Iraq Blog Count)

Mohammed of Iraq the Model posts on the elections and the prospect of civil war in Iraq:

The groups that oppose the elections say that elections cannot take place with the country being under occupation. One thing I'm sure of is that a civil war will be inevitable if the US withdrew from Iraq. Close your eyes for a moment and try to picture the situation if the US decided to leave now. Those who still live in the illusions of the past will not have a role in the future of the region.

Dr. Saif of Iraq Humanity is back after a month-long hiatus.

Abu Khaleel on his other blog, Iraqi Letter to America, tells us about the value of negative feedback.

Yad of Kurdistan Youngs fills us in on the shortcomings of the several Kurdish political parties.

Kurdo of Kurdo's World has more Kurdish campaign posters and the high cost of living in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Ali of Iraqi Liberal discusses the election with an old taxi driver:

One day and as I was getting back home from work I saw some people gathering on the road. Abu Ahmed (a taxi driver I usually go with. He's an old religious She'at with a scarf on his head all the time) slowed down to see what it was and we saw some guy arguing angrily with a police officer who was apparently issuing a ticket for him. The guy was shouting madly and people were trying to calm him. The poor policeman seemed afraid. Such scenes are not uncommon these days and at certain occasions policemen were actually beaten at the hands of some nasty drivers and they didn't dare to use force! It was an annoying scene to me and to Abu Ahmed who shook his head with an unsatisfied look on his face and said, "When are we going to learn how to live in order?"

Alaa of The Mesopotamian is back in earnest with an excellent essay. His message:

Well, I am sorry, but these are horrible thoughts for the New Year. Nevertheless, do not go thinking that we have weakened. This time America is right, and the Iraqi people will never allow the clock to be turned back. No matter what sacrifices are required: We Shall Overcome.

Finally, neurotic iraqi wife seems to be out of her funk.

Dave Schuler posts regularly to his own weblog, The Glittering Eye. The Carnival was originally conceived by Ryan Boots.