I just HAD to comment. No, wait, I felt like I should comment. Better yet, I wanted to share this comment... food for thought: The Internet is a good thing. Or is it? Does the Internet cafe have the facilities to feed and house those people who have lost their homes as a result of the war? (Displaced by Kurds, uprooted by local gangs, or bombed by Saddam OR the US.)

On the positive side of the fence, the internet will help many people connect with their families. Perhaps, in this case, the "customers" will be asking their families for money or food or transportation for relocation. Saddam was a bad thing (hurts people) and the internet cafe is a good thing. (helps people)

Funny thing is, we created a situation where we had to remove someone from power (Saddam was supported by US, France and Germany - weapons and training). We trained him to do what we needed him to and then he turned his weapons and training on the providers.

Then, we created a need for an Internet cafe. Is the cafe turning on us? Are we all hoping to be "good customers" / "good consumers"?

Can we ever learn from the past? Saddam/Kadaffi/Noriega/etc.
What will we bring to the future?
Global memory of US blunders with continued funding and training of paramilitary groups that eventually turn on their trainers and providers.

Can an internet cafe in the middle of a war zone make a difference in an destabilized economy? What real news is coming from the region? What is the primary resource of Iraq? It's not oil... it's not "customers"... it's not the Internet. It's the people. Teach the people how to fish. Teach the people how to build something that they will be proud of. Teach the people why we felt that Saddam had to be removed from power and why we did it the way we did. Teach them why their tomorrow will be better with Saddam gone and prove it!

Great to hear from you, JC! Holler if you want a login, you could stir things up around here nicely.

Free people create wealth. It has been proven time after time. People need freedom, property rights, and the rule of law. Where these three factors are present, people create wealth. We provided freedom in Iraq and I hope that we are dedicated to helping the folks attain the other two. Then there will be plenty of food and shelter. This is the fertile crescent -- oh, and they also have about a bazillion barrels of oil...

The Iraqis are bright and comfortable with modernity (the good thing Saddam provided was modernity). "One swallow does not a spring make but an Internet cafe is an exceptional precursor. It tells people that they are now free. Pulling down a statue was symbolic; the Internet Cafe is real.

The litany of evil regimes we've supported (you left out Samoza and Marcos) do not represent our nation's finest hour. But our motives were to free people from the tyranny of Communism. When those goals were achieved, we stopped supporting these regimes. Germany and France and Russia supplied Saddam Hussein until the Marines actually landed in Baghdad. For money. For oil.

Speaking of bastards, would Cuba have been better off if we had supported Batista against Castro. Yup. SO before I work up big time contrition for our support of Noriega, sometimes I have to believe in the lesser of evils.

I don't mean to be a Pollyanna. Setting up good government is about impossible and I pray the Iraqis do well. I said through the war that liberty is worth fighting for. The seed of liberty in Baghdad is bearing fruit.

Good discussion guys. Let me just say that access to an UNCENSORED internet at a reasonable price is both informative AND instructive in the wonderful ways of capitalism.

The cause of liberty is on the move in America as well, with the president's "itty-bitty" tax cut that was recently passed. This was three or four steps forward, against the many steps backward under Clinton and the pre-1994 congress.

Finally, I'd like to revise my earlier (May 21) judgment on these pages that rounding up "military style weapons" in post-war Iraq makes "perfect sense on a temporary basis." I now realize that it makes no sense on ANY basis, since only the law-abiding will turn in their weapons and then - you guessed it - only outlaws will have guns. The Iraqi police and even U.S. soldiers can't protect everybody, so everybody needs to be able to protect himself and his family.

Thank you for many of the points you have raised, can I remind you that the internet is a resource which represents the culmination of much of the combined knowledge of the educated and not so educated world to date, far greater is it, in truth, than any other reference source, any countries library references, any encyclopedia, any persons knowledge, if it exists and human society continues it will infact contain all of these aspects, for as you think of something it does not contain you are then in a situation to post it, probably, and if you are not you can find out how to. The other true marvel of this is the amazing fact that whilst relatively cheap power exist and given the efficiency of the resource, it can run from batteries for crying out loud, then it is a fantastically cheap resource too, I apologise for the arrogance of sitting here with a $1,800 dollar laptop, a significantly stable 56k connection and a larder of food, watching a program oconsiderring Adam abd Eve's Tomb in Iraq. but point out the amazement I found when young on seeing the first light emitting diode calculator, at that time an item of great technoligical advancement of about the same price of an entry level computer to the internet now and I'm only 32 in a week.
The point of this being that I searched for and am totally in support of, though not sure what will become of, the internet.
my search was for the baghdad internet cafe.
Why hear it second hand if you're interested.
Mik.

Hello. My name is Jason Travis. My company, Hornet Wireless Technologies would like to be of service to the Iraqi people.

My company specializes in the development and implementation of wireless business services. We hope to be of assistance to Iraq and welcome having an opportunity to speak with you.

Sincerely,

Jason S. Travis
Lead Systems Engineer
Hornet Wireless Technologies
www.hornetwireless.com

Regardless of how many insurgents we kill or capture the future of Iraq will only be determined when the Iraqi people make a stand. Sooner or later they will have to make a stand against the rebels or be enslaved by them. To all of the Iraqui people I say stand and be counted in order to be free or cower under your beds and become a slave to your fears forever.

Hoo Rah, Les. I agree completely. Let me suggest a few banners for the people of Iraq to rally behind: Live Free or Die - Don't Tread on Me - Give me Liberty or Give me Death.

Thanks for the thoughtful comment and I encourage you to chime in on some of our more recent posts at www.berkeleysquarejazz.com/blog