Where did Iraqi minister of information Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, famed for his fancifully optimistic statements, disappear off to? It turns out that he's now writing a column for the Guardian, weighing in on matters such as the catastrophic failure of congestion charging in London:
Do not believe for one moment the lies of the immoral mercenaries of the mayoral office. The truth is that in the weeks since the charge was implemented, traffic on all ring roads and major arteries has trebled, while central London has become a scorched wasteland, populated only by foxes and jackals. Yet still millions of innocent people are charged each day for journeys that they have never undertaken.

I wonder how long until some genius from blogspot.com seizes this article as evidence that the Graun really is Saddam Bin Laden's propaganda engine, just like Al Quaeda or Al Jazeera or whateverthefuckit'scalled.

Posted by: Ben | http://leviathan.weblogs.com | Wed Apr 16 08:46:54 2003

Finally updated the blog.

On that note, interestingly, someone I heard recently on the Alex Jones show claimed (and it sounds quite plausible) that the way Al-Quaeda is pronounced in Arabic is 'Al-See-Eye-Aye-Da' (IE The CIA). Given the many years Al Quaeda worked for the CIA and that they started them to spread terror in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and other places, it is no big surprise.

Or is it just that Arabs are all simple minded and easily influenced by conspiracy theories (the way they used to say Black people were)?

Posted by: Graham | http://grudnuk.com | Wed Apr 16 08:55:35 2003

Well, I don't think Arabs are simple minded, but given their history since the middle ages, you can't blame them for having a persecution complex, hence the popularity of conspiracy theories about the West on the Arab street.

I am amused by another theory that part of the idea behind Al-Qaeda or "The Base" is based on Asimov's Foundation series.

Posted by: Ben | http://leviathan.weblogs.com | Thu Apr 17 02:25:25 2003

Yah, I was being ironic.

The whole Asimov theory is an interesting one too. Apparently his novels are very popular in the Moslem world. But then again, maybe it's all just smoke. After all, you can't really tell much about an extremist group. The Weathermen sounds like an acoustic rock group. Fataa sounds like a dairy product. FARC sounds like a crow. Shining Path sounds like an endorsement for a get rich quick scheme.

Posted by: Len | http:// | Sat Apr 19 03:29:51 2003

I read somewhere that he was killed?

Posted by: Ben | http://leviathan.weblogs.com | Mon Apr 21 09:05:34 2003

Isaac Asimov?

Posted by: Graham | http://grudnuk.com | Mon Apr 21 16:16:00 2003

Isaac Asimov? He died in 1992, of an HIV-related illness, actually.



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