Salaam Pax – truth or fiction?

Instapundit linked this afternoon to a great column from the Ottawa Citizen that questions the motives of the blogosphere darling Salaam Pax. 'Salam Pax' plays Americans for fools in Iraq The star of the blog 'Where is Raed?' is part of an anti-Western conspiracy.

I read the article and thought that it was a nice assessment of why we should not take the word of Salaam at face value. After all like everyone else in Iraq he has an agenda – he wants to keep what power and prestige he and his family held under Saddam. His writing makes it clear that his family was in a fairly comfortable position – he lived abroad, had a computer with internet access, and a satellite dish along with a good job this was not the position of the average Iraqi. In none of his writings did Salaam Pax talk of having any fear of the Ba’ath regime instead he talked of family members (never him) who were active in the party or the military.

I look at his recent entries and realize that combined with his pre-war writings the overall effect is that of a petulant teenager who suddenly has to deal with living on his own. He was not particularly happy with the situation under Saddam (in his parents house) but now the reality of living out from under Saddam’s yoke seems just so hard. Of course it is hard compared to being one of the privileged members of the ruling class in a Fascist nation. I am guessing that in post Nazi Germany the ones yelling loudest about the disarray of Allied occupation were those who helped keep order so very well under Hitler.

I will continue to read Salaam Pax but with a rather large rock of salt.