SALAM PAX — REAL OR NOT? Steven Den Beste has questions, and Paul Boutin reflects that we may never have a definitive answer.

I agree with Paul that Salam’s blog didn’t feel like a hoax. But, of course, that can be explained by him being a really good hoax, or by my intuition being wrong, either of which is possible. There are a lot of questions that can’t be answered definitively, and for those we have to either go with our gut (recognizing that we might be wrong) or just accept that they’re unanswered.

I feel fairly confident that Salam’s blog wasn’t a government propaganda outlet for the U.S. or Iraqi governments — or at least, that if it was one it wasn’t a very good one, since it didn’t really produce a lot of points for one side or another. Beyond that, who knows? Unless, of course, Salam turns up.

And even then, it’ll be tricky to know if it’s really him! If I were an Iraqi scam-meister, I might start claiming to be Salam. Heck, we might see several Iraqis claiming to be the real Salam. Stay tuned.