Terri
04-25-2008, 07:43 AM
By Oliver North
April 25, 2008
"The number you have called cannot be connected." Ever heard a recording like that on your telephone? On 9/11, messages like that were commonplace in New York and Washington -- and incredibly frustrating for first responders trying to coordinate rescue operations and families attempting to contact loved ones. Now think about that kind of message being heard by virtually every cell phone subscriber in an entire country. That may be about to happen in Iraq. If it does, it could well derail progress made in recent months and have long-term adverse consequences for U.S. interests in the region.
In December 2003, less than eight months after the liberation of Baghdad, two new Iraqi telecommunications companies, Atheer and Iraqna, boldly began erecting cell towers and selling commercial cell phones and service in central and southern Iraq. In short order, everyone who could get his hands on a cell phone was buying one. Most never even had seen or used a "hard-wired" telephone. For Iraqis, cell phones quickly became vital to commerce and security. It was, in the words of an Iraqi soldier I interviewed, a "cellular revolution."
More (http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/onorth/2008/on_04251.shtml)
April 25, 2008
"The number you have called cannot be connected." Ever heard a recording like that on your telephone? On 9/11, messages like that were commonplace in New York and Washington -- and incredibly frustrating for first responders trying to coordinate rescue operations and families attempting to contact loved ones. Now think about that kind of message being heard by virtually every cell phone subscriber in an entire country. That may be about to happen in Iraq. If it does, it could well derail progress made in recent months and have long-term adverse consequences for U.S. interests in the region.
In December 2003, less than eight months after the liberation of Baghdad, two new Iraqi telecommunications companies, Atheer and Iraqna, boldly began erecting cell towers and selling commercial cell phones and service in central and southern Iraq. In short order, everyone who could get his hands on a cell phone was buying one. Most never even had seen or used a "hard-wired" telephone. For Iraqis, cell phones quickly became vital to commerce and security. It was, in the words of an Iraqi soldier I interviewed, a "cellular revolution."
More (http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/onorth/2008/on_04251.shtml)