Saddam's Hometown Gets Open Web

[DealMonkey]

Wired.com

TIKRIT, Iraq -- The first words Ahmed Abdullah typed in the Google search engine were "George Bush."

The 19-year-old wanted to access the president's website, something he couldn't do under restricted and tightly controlled Internet service during Saddam Hussein's rule.

On Saturday, Saddam's hometown of Tikrit got its first postwar Internet café, where residents could browse any site without fear of being monitored or blocked.

"I like it," Abdullah said, surrounded by U.S. soldiers and commanders who crammed the one-room Internet café they had helped set up with $24,000 from the 4th Infantry Division's budget. "It's beautiful. There is so much information I can get."

The owner, Hashim Hassan, 33, ran a similar café for two years before the war. But in those times, "any political sites, opposition or sex pages, were blocked. Now there are no restrictions."

Still, the risks of cooperating with American troops in a region that is a hotbed of Saddam loyalists and resistance to U.S. occupation are high. Last week, in the main street where Hassan's cafe sits, just around the corner from the 4th Infantry's sprawling headquarters, Iraqi guerrillas killed a U.S. interpreter and wounded two soldiers in an ambush.

The blast and shooting shattered the windows and destroyed some of the computers on the first floor of the glass-and-marble building. The opening had to be delayed for a few days.

Hassan said he wasn't afraid working with the Americans would make him a target. But his co-worker, Naeb Hassan, said Tikrit, 120 miles north of Baghdad, remains a dangerous and unsafe place where "some people love Saddam."

"These are bad people, Saddam Fedayeen, they don't want U.S. troops here," he said, referring to Saddam's militia that is believed to be spearheading almost daily attacks and ambushes on U.S. troops and Iraqis working with them.

But for Tikrit's young men -- no women were sitting by the computers -- browsing the Net for $1 an hour is an opportunity to learn, see and explore things unavailable until now.

The café has had up to 30 visitors a day since it started operating five days ago, Hashim Hassan said.

U.S. Maj. Troy Rader said the satellite connection and equipment was bought in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai and the work took four months to complete, including the repairs from last week's ambush and a relocation of the office.

"This is the first private, non-government-run Internet cafe in town," he said, adding similar projects are planned for Baiji, Samarra and ad-Dawr -- all towns in the region patrolled by the 4th Infantry.

Other favorite sites? Anything that offers clues where Saddam might be hiding. Searching for "Saddam Hussein" was Abdullah's second choice.

 

[Mean MrMustard]

Awesome!

 

[tweakmm]

What they don't tell you is that the next thing that was typed into google was "boobies"

 

[Mean MrMustard]

^ Well, that goes without saying

 

[jfall]

The owner, Hashim Hassan, 33, ran a similar café for two years before the war. But in those times, "any political sites, opposition or sex pages, were blocked. Now there are no restrictions."

How do I sign up for this

 

[charrison]

How is this possible? I thought this was a quagmire with no electricity and infrastructure that is worse today than before the war.

 

[povertystruck]

Not of all Iraq has the internet, and infrastructure has not been made to par. Yes it is worse, but is getting better.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: povertystruck
Not of all Iraq has the internet, and infrastructure has not been made to par. Yes it is worse, but is getting better.

I think it is better than many people think. The good news tends to get drowned out by any bad news that occurs.

 

[JellyBaby]

Originally posted by: charrison
How is this possible? I thought this was a quagmire with no electricity and infrastructure that is worse today than before the war.

Apparently "$24,000 from the 4th Infantry Division's budget" did the trick.

Never underestimate the power of unchecked internet p0rn's ability as the great equalizer.

 

[rchiu]

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: povertystruck
Not of all Iraq has the internet, and infrastructure has not been made to par. Yes it is worse, but is getting better.

I think it is better than many people think. The good news tends to get drowned out by any bad news that occurs.

Really? One cafe gets access to the Internet gives you the whole picture in Iraq?

From a story today where Lucent gets a 25 mil contract from Bectel to fix Baghdad phone line, quote:

The companies said about 240,000 out of the 540,000 telephone land lines in Baghdad are out of service, and Murray Hill, New Jersey-based Lucent will work to restore those lines, while also training the Iraqi people to operate their own phone network.

That's 44% of the phone line in their capital that is still not working.

Not trying to put up bad news or anything, just a reality check without spins from US media or Bush Admin.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: rchiu

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: povertystruck
Not of all Iraq has the internet, and infrastructure has not been made to par. Yes it is worse, but is getting better.

I think it is better than many people think. The good news tends to get drowned out by any bad news that occurs.

Really? One cafe gets access to the Internet gives you the whole picture in Iraq?

From a story today where Lucent gets a 25 mil contract from Bectel to fix Baghdad phone line, quote:

The companies said about 240,000 out of the 540,000 telephone land lines in Baghdad are out of service, and Murray Hill, New Jersey-based Lucent will work to restore those lines, while also training the Iraqi people to operate their own phone network.

That's 44% of the phone line in their capital that is still not working.

Not trying to put up bad news or anything, just a reality check without spins from US media or Bush Admin.

I did not say one internet cafe is a full picture of Iraq, but infrastructure continues to improve, not degrade. This internet cafe does imply that electricity does exist, with telecom hardware to get a signal out of the country(which implies more electricity).