When I’m compiling the Carnival of the Liberated I read many, many more posts and blogs than I end up linking to. I try and select the posts that I think are the most interesting (and, in some cases, the most readable). And, although I read lots of blogs written by ex-patriate Iraqis, I avoid linking to them because the focus of the Carnival is Afghani bloggers posting from Afghanistan and Iraqi bloggers posting from Iraq.
Sometimes, however, particularly when I believe that the post has special relevance to the situation in Iraq, I will link to a post written by an ex-pat Iraqi. Today I was very tempted to link to a fantastic interview that Fayrouz of Iraqi in America had of Lisa Ramaci, widow of Steven Vincent, the freelance journalist who was murdered earlier this year in Basra.
It was a wonderful interview, at times intimate, at times dealing with the larger issues in Iraq.
At the request of Ms. Ramaci, Fayrouz has withdrawn the interview apparently due to boorish and hurtful comments that were made in the comments section of the post. And the entire episode may move Fayrouz to stop blogging.
It’s a crying shame.
