The main Iraqi network connections are still functioning. Uruklink.net, Iraq2000.com, Baghdadlink.net, etc systems are responding. The public web servers appear to be very congested or non-responsive; but because I can reach other systems (mail, dns, etc) I suspect people are overloading the webservers. And to answer the question, no I don't know why the .IQ top-level domain is registered in Richardson Texas, nor do I know why the official state provider uses .NET and .COM instead of .iq. Since either the Iraqi government or the US government could shutdown the relatively limited external links from Iraq; I'm guessing both governments have decided its worth leaving the Internet links in place. Or its not worth the hassle of trying to shut them down.