Riverbend Blog

The Riverbend blog really opened my eyes to how different things were from the way I expected in Iraq during the war. When we had a former marine guest speaker, I also realized that in many ways reality was different from my expectations. What really struck me about the blog was the feeling of community between Iraqi civilians, even though there were so many differences among them about what should be done politically. All of the chaos and hardship brought the civilians together, and it actually made it seem like the civilians were able to cope with everything better even than American soldiers were. I think this is because they had that internal support for each other, which, from the literature we've gone through in the course, didn't really seem like the case for soldiers. Soldiers are taken out of the social environment they grew up in or were familiar with, and are put into a more rigid hierarchy in which they are expected to meet certain ideals of masculinity and even hide a lot of their humanity. On top of the exceptionally awful things they have to witness, soldiers may also be less able to handle emotional and physical distress because they are expected not to show it or talk about it. This problem would continue when American soldiers return to civilian life, being further isolated from others by their experience of war. On another note, the girl from the blog also had an entertaining habit of calling American media out on inconsistencies and things that they were flat out wrong on. I'm not sure how old she was, but she had a really good grasp of many political and social situations, and was very informative on many subjects other than the war. She especially seemed to know a lot about America. I'd love to go through the rest of her blog, and I plan to show it to others to read as well.

Riverbend

I thought it was interesting how she included information about Iraqi culture along with war. In several of the other novels and war pieces that we read throughout the year people had a lack of understanding about other’s cultures or did not focus on the culture at all. She includes snippets of both the war and Iraq in general, which gives people a fuller understanding on the war. Looking at the war from this perspective was new and rewarding. I also like the last post title “Ten Years On” because of the look on the war so many years later. She discussed what Iraqis had learned ten years after Baghdad’s fall. This blog has such a unique perspective because it starts while she is in Iraq with her family and ends in reflection ten years later. What surprises me about this blog is that she wrote the blog over the course of ten years and remained anonymous the entire time. It makes readers wonder why she chose to stay anonymous over all that time. Was it because she was more comfortable with that or that if her name were to get out there would be a backlash where she lives? A lot of blog posts contain parts that speak out against the things that the Iraqi government were doing and the things that were happening in order to go with the U.S. Even after her entries were collected for a published book, she never revealed her identity. It’s interesting to think about because it gives you more insight into what kind of environment and mindset she lives in. 

Baghdad Burning

This blog, called Baghdad Burning, was written in the early 2000s by an anonymous Iraqi woman under the pseudonym "Riverbend" and details her experiences living in the center of the conflict in Baghdad. It is particularly informative, well written, and extensive. Perhaps most importantly, however, is the fact that the blog could easily have been written by any average American citizen. The language and tone are very casual and yet poignant, showcasing a sameness rarely advertised between America and the Middle East. Perhaps the best post to highlight this is her “The Promise and the Threat” post from Thursday, August 28, 2003. This post deals with the myth and the reality of life in Iraq. Riverbend notes that Iraq is often portrayed as a primitive society where citizens “lived in little beige tents set up on the sides of little dirt roads” and “the men and boys would ride to school on their camels, donkeys and goats.” The customs are portrayed as outdated and simple. This is far from the reality, she states, as many Iraqis owned technology such as computers and VCRs and that Iraq is home to “sophisticated bridges, recreational centers, clubs, restaurants, shops, universities, schools” and “fast cars.” Riverbend herself was a computer programmer before the occupation of Iraq by the United States. She goes on to tell the story of how Iraqi engineers were forced to rebuild their country after the Gulf War and were forced to learn how to rebuild things initially built by foreign companies. They were also forced to deal with a shortage of materials usually imported from abroad as well as dodge a blockade intended to destroy all remaining infrastructure after the war. The reconstruction of the country was a vast undertaking that should not be overlooked, as the Iraqi engineers accomplished it all and what’s more, they also were able to add artistic touches to their work.

Riverbend's Blog

Out of the several blogs that I read, I thought they were very interesting. It was such an easy and interesting read. It was nice to read her perspective on life on Iraq. Riverbend gave her true perspective on how The Iraq war has impacted her life and the lives of whom she knew and also the impact of the country itself. In the blog "The Promise and the Threat" I liked how she points out a myth that many people have about life in Iraq and gives her viewpoint on the truth. I have to be completely honest I was one of those people who believed in the myth that people in Iraq lived uncivilized during the Iraq war. During the beginnings of the Iraq war I was quite young so I really didn't keep up with politics and war stuff, so I was very ill informed. I never really knew what the war was about and why we were there in the first place. Riverbend points out that the myth about Iraqis are outrageous and that they live normally as we do in America. But she does say that because of the war there has to be a lot of rebuilding and reconstructing of all the damage. I feel like I never really sit back and take a moment to realize how hard it must be for Iraqis to have American invading their home and personal space and making a mess of their country.
I thought it was cool that Riverbend kept her identity anonymous. I really like just reading her perspective of things as time passed on in the Iraq war. Many things changed and how and what she wrote also changed. Knowing that Riverbend is a female Muslim was also cool to know. I like the blog "We've Only Just Begun..." Because it talks about how woman were affected by this war. I think her blogs do a really good job of giving a plain and simple but powerful viewpoint of the impact of the Iraq war.

Riverbend

I enjoyed reading the Baghdad Burning blog posts. It is rare to read the experiences of a person on the other side of the war. In one of the posts, that author mentions that the invasion into Iraq was uncalled for since Iraq had no involvement with Al-Qaeda. She also stated that they pitied Americans for the lives lost in the Twin Tower attacks, and were also enraged at the fact that Muslim fundamentalists had orchestrated the attack.  The author concludes her post by asking: “How does the death of 3,000 Americans and the fall of two towers justify the horrors in Iraq when not one of the people involved with the attack was Iraqi?” This question is the million dollar question that no one seems to be able to answer. We never received a concrete answer for our continued involvement oversees. I never agreed with the U.S. entering the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars, and reading this post makes it clear that the other side is as amazed and confused at the actions of the United States. Upon reading her other blog posts, I began to imagine how my life would be different if I was in her shoes. I can’t imagine having to constantly be watchful of suspicious activity every time I went outside. Also, having to deal with the changes in the streets must be difficult. The streets were so damaged that they were no longer identified by name, instead the areas were identified by craters where the missiles exploded or by where certain people were killed. Another point the author made, was the difficulty acquiring certain items such as gas or electricity after the war began. This blog really points out the changes in the author’s life when the war started in her home country. I’m surprised I had not heard of this blog prior to hearing about it in class.

Riverbend

The Riverbend blog was very interesting to me because it gave a perspective that I have never heard before. Being in elementary school during the beginning of the Iraq War, I never was too involved in the news of everything that was going on, nor did I pay attention to all of the politics of the situation. Partly due to a lack of interest in politics, I have never before really looked into the beginning of the Iraq War. It’s interesting to me to read so much about it now from an Iraqi perspective and have her be so much better informed than I, not only about Iraq, but about the politics and such in the United States as well. One part of the blog that stood out to me is from the post titled “My New Talent” from August, 2003.  Riverbend is talking to her brother about their 13 year old neighbor smoking and says, “He’s only 13.” He brother responds, “Is anyone only 13 anymore?” and Riverbend concludes that nobody is young anymore. It occurred to me how fortunate I was growing up to have the option to be ill-informed about the war. Although news about the war was constantly onTV and in the papers, I was able to continue my young meanderings and ignore the news and watch PBS Kids or play with my toys instead. It’s obvious that children in Baghdad did not have this same luxury. Riverbend says, “The silence was shattered a few moments later by the sound of bullets in the distance,” and shortly later says that she can tell if the gunfire is, as she puts it, “‘them’ or ‘us’”. The war is so intrusive to Riverbend’s daily life that she now can distinguish between shots from different guns just based on sound and says that it’s a skill that many people, young and old, have also acquired. The presence of the war is impossible to ignore or escape.