The Iraqi regime is now arresting bloggers

Via European Tribune: Iraqi blogger Khalid Jarrar has been arrested and imprisoned without charge, reportedly for opposing the occupation on his blog. His brother Raed (formerly of Where Is Raed) has the details:

My brother called my dad from the Iraqi mokhabarat's jail to inform us he was alive; he said he was abducted by the mukhabarat men from his university.

[...]

My dad said that Khalid mentioned something about his writings or his blog. We’re not sure whether our blogs are the reason behind the abduction of my brother, but it’s one of the possible scenarios. In case if they were, we’ll stand for our political values of anti-violence, anti-occupation, pro-dialogue, pro-free speech, and all of the other honourable stands that my family has taken in our lifetime.

Our goal now is to ask the mokhabarat to take my brother to court and reveal what exactly he is being charged with (if anything).

Like Baghdad Burning, Khalid has been a critic of the occupation and of the behaviour of American soldiers in Iraq. His blog states

I am pro God, I am pro life, I am pro humanity, I am pro truth, and when the American goverment choses to be against all that then damn it: i AM anti American-goverment.

Now it seems that such opinions are enough to justify detention without trial. Still, it could have been worse - he could have been tortured. Or, as Raed notes, he could have been executed and thrown in the garbage.

So what's the difference between the new Iraq and the old one again? Increasingly, its looking like only the names have changed...

Meanwhile, if you'd like to make a token gesture of support for Khalid, you can sign a petition here.