Wow. The Snook and I were channel-surfing tonight and came upon the end of Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope. He introduced the last guest as an Iraqi that had maintained on “online diary” throughout the invasion. We were both like, “No. Way.” But yes, Salam Pax himself is apparently in Sydney for a writer’s conference and popped in for an interview. He was chubby and well-spoken, and I was surprised to hear he’s gay. It was a really good interview in which he expressed dismay at the way things have happened but also hope for the future. Denton asked him flat out if he thought the Coalition should pull out, and the answer was a definitive “No.” Sadly, he also spoke optimistically about the governing council and his wishes for peace. A disclaimer before the show revealed that it had been taped before today’s tragic assassination. He’ll be participating in an online chat tomorrow though so hopefully we’ll get to hear his reaction.
Note: Denton seemed to be going out of his way to avoid saying the word “weblog”, which amused me. He kept saying “online website” and “diary”, despite the fact that the guy is known as the “Baghdad Blogger”. He must’ve thought the word was silly. (It kinda is.) Pax worked it in a couple times though.