In case any of you are still checking in from time to time

I'm going to put up a few posts tonight to try and get back on track with the blogging.

For starters there is Mohammed over at Iraq The Model who posts Do Iraqis Want an Arab Nuclear Bomb? which is a pretty interesting read on some Iraqi viewpoints on Iran wanting to develop a nuclear bomb, not that they'd ever consider doing that...

• The change that took place in Iraq was not only a political one but also, and more importantly, a change in awareness; something that isn't easy to detect.
  This is what I see clear in the nature of Iraqi dialogue among the public, and I'm always pleased by the degree of awareness and open-mindedness that emerged in the years that followed the change. I believe it is an important indication about the future.
  
  Recently I've been reading through one of the BBC forums whose topic is basically "do Arabs have the right to possess nuclear weapons?". I didn't hesitate to read all the contributions, which numbered over 600 from various Arab countries. I wasn't surprised by the nature of Iraqi contributions to the discussion. I had always called these "singing outside the Arab flock".
  This "singing" is almost always faced by attacks from the rest of Arabs who often generously use the word "traitors" when addressing their Iraqi counterparts just because they have different views about one issue or another.