Baghdad Burning

While reading the blogs on the River bend and Baghdad Burning I found that my favorite post was “National Day”. It was really eye opening for me to see what the initial war in Iraq was like for those innocent people who lived there. I remember being 9 years old, watching the TV and seeing the explosions around the city. The only thing I knew was that this was where the people who brought down the towers lived. I remember thinking that we were finally getting them back, and moved on with my 9 year old life. Looking back at it now, I feel embarrassed that I thought those things. I know I was innocent and naïve back then, but to read about how so many lives were changed by war is really shocking. I can’t imagine anything like that happening in the U.S. I would think that if that happened everyone would care about the innocent lives, but in Iraq innocent lives were taken and no one seemed to really care over here in the states. While reading this particular blog, I found it weird that April 9^th, 2003 will be a date that many Iraqi’s compare to our own 9/11. It just seems so surreal that we are capable of such destruction. Our military is seen in a heroic light, and to imagine that what they do invokes fear and death sometimes in innocent lives is heartbreaking. This course has really opened me up to new perspectives of war and I can see that there is little progress that comes from war. For both sides in war, it seems that the ultimate sacrifice of one’s life is given, but not much else in return. It is really sad that our world hasn’t learned from previous destructions of war, and that we show no sign of slowing down.

Two Peas in a Pot

I came to the realization that because I am not a U.S. citizen I was never really that interested in the post 9/11 events. I knew that the twin towers had been destroyed by terrorist and that the U.S. was going to go to war with its attackers. Other than that I didn’t really care, I didn’t need more information because it did not really affects any of my family members.  As shallow and narrow minded as it sounds, worrying about the problems of the U.S. was not at the top of my priority list.  We had problems of our own in our country; corruption, poverty, power outages and inflation. The U.S was simply another country that was going through a rough time. In my mind I thought, “the U.S. is a world power, they can take care of themselves”. Only now I understand the true extend and repercussions of 9/11 and the War on Terror.

This blog has left me speechless and appalled. Reading Riverbend’s accounts of life in occupied Iraq was an awakening experience. What really sadden me though are the violent replies to her blog. Her account of the occupation does shed a negative light of the American army and its actions in Iraq and I do understand why some people would feel insulted by it. However she is simply saying something that not everyone wants to hear because it is easier to ignore it. Is she the first person to question the American occupation? No. Is she saying that all American’s are evil and stupid? No. Is she claiming to be right? No. She is simply stating what she perceives and what some Iraqis think. I do agree with her. Americans should have never occupied Iraq and they do not know what is best for Iraq. No country should ever occupy another in order to “restore order” because they do not understand it in the first place. They wouldn’t understand the culture, the economy or, the mentality and thus fail to establish a government that can actually be successful. This is not the first time the U.S. has intervened in a country in an attempt to “restore order” or “liberate an oppressed” country. A similar situation happened to us in 1965. After the assassination of our former dictator Rafael L. Trujillo in 1961 there was a power struggle for the control of the country. In 1965 with threats of dislodging another government and revolts U.S. troops invaded Dominican Republic with the justification of preventing the birth of a “New Cuba”. However this occupation just led to more bloodshed and the installation of a new dictator (he was not considered a dictator because election were being held but he ran un opposed for 16 years). I am not saying that the U.S. had bad intentions (even though their intentions are unclear) it is just too much of a cultural difference to be successful and in the process it is doing more harm than good.
I also found how much I can relate to her accusation of Americans being ignorant of the culture. I don't know how many times I have gotten remarks like "I didn't know you had electricity!", "I though you guys lived in tree houses", "I thought all Dominicans were Black". I would love to be joking about this. but I am not.  

Baghdad Burning

As I read Riverbend’s blog entries, I gain a broader perspective of the war in the Middle East. There is a stereotype that comes from where she lives. In one of her entries, she addresses the ignorance that outsiders can have towards her people. She says that people assume that they attend school on the backs of donkeys and live in huts. The idea that those who are different are automatically wild savages is a thought that has occurred since the beginning of exploration, such as the first settlers assuming the Native Americans were savages because they knew nothing about them. 

Riverbend lives a life that I could not fathom living. Something that I noticed as I was reading her entries is the huge difference between her life and American life. There is a constant threat that looms over her every day from living in an area of the world devastated by war and terror. She quotes the BBC, explaining that according to the organization, 70 cars a day are being hijacked in her country. Another time she discusses how a major death occurs, and people just shrug their shoulders and move on. Like it doesn’t effect them much. One of her cousins just expresses his dislike of  the deceased victim. The author also explains that she could not sleep at night because of her fear of raids or looting. Often I forget how grateful I should be that I am safe from harm and have the luxuries that I do. I personally could not imagine living in a world where the threat of harm were a day-to-day guarantee, but for Riverbend and those who live in her country, it is a painful reality.  

Hope Out of Chaos

As I read a blog entry after blog entry, I found myself immersed in Riverbend’s writing and how powerful and candid it is. Her blog paints an authentic picture that we are rarely allowed to see about the war. The media distorts it by creating the war to be a political affair that eventually led to “liberation” but as Riverbend records her musings, her daily life, and takes is into her world, she gives a gripping account of what it really means to live in Baghdad during that period.

I found myself laughing at times when she debunks the myths with riveting, sardonic humor like how Iraqis do own a computer or how kids do not actually go to school on camels. Her writing, oftentimes, reminds me of Tim O’Brien’s, she tells it like it is and does not leave anything out. However, amid the humor, there was sorrow and grief intertwined. Sometimes, I had to take a break from reading because I felt devastated by how much she has lost and how everything in her life has changed.

It was intriguing how she called the war as an occupation and that no one owned anything anymore—ownership was obliterated and nothing belonged to anyone. As her blog grew gloomier, my knowledge of the war expanded. How devastating it was for her to not be able to sleep at night due to looters, raids, and hearing distant bombs exploding. One of her blog entries that really got to me was how she developed a new talent. She can now distinguish what gun was used if she heard shootings or whose side was shooting, etc., etc. Her writing style is impeccable as well; as a reader, I can envision myself with her in her car, waiting for the traffic to speed up, and making sure you don’t look at someone in the eye for fear of ‘causing trouble’.  

Her grim account of this whole ordeal reveals what it truly was like to live in Baghdad. The media always makes it look like every Iraqi is a criminal, when, in truth, they are victims mourning for the home they had lost. All in all, I am glad that Riverbend is somewhere safe and still is. I also hope that her wounds are not that deep so that they can begin to heal. 

Baghdad Burning

I decided to start the blog from the beginning. "I'm female, Iraqi and 24. I survived the war. That's all you need to know. It's all that matters these days anyway." It was very blunt and showed how she was looked at where she was from. All that mattered after the war was whether you survived it or not. It doesn't seem to matter what happened before or what is happening after, surviving is the thing that defined her. Whether that be good or bad is unknown. She seems to rant and find things bothersome like anyone else in the world such as having trouble sleeping. But the reasons for her not being able to sleep are different. I find it crazy with how much fear those in Iraqi had to live with. I can't even fathom what that would even be like. But at the same time she seems to be numb to everything because she has lived with it for so long. It's a sad thing that fear has become a daily routine. Another thing that surprised me is when she talks about the small boy that was killed during an American raid. He was killed yet they found nothing. That is something we don't generally hear about in the US, because it's advertised over here as we're doing something so great helping those who have fallen and been through war, yet we're just causing more chaos and trouble. Women cannot even walk out by themselves. They have to be accompanied everywhere they go. Imagine living like this, because I surely can't.

Different Perspective

I really enjoyed reading Riverbend's insight on the war. The fact that she is a young woman makes it even more interesting because I'm always used to men writing about wars. The first blog that caught my attention was "Another Day…" because it highlights America's perspective on people from Iraq. Riverbend expresses her anger that many people do not believe she's really from Iraq because she has access to the internet and she knows how to use a computer. It really opened my eyes to how America's judgement of people from Iraq is usually completely wrong. Riverbend is almost mocking their perceptions because she is living proof that people from Iraq are intelligent and can have their own thoughts, expressions and can use a computer. For a while when I was little I was trained to think that America was more intelligent than other countries, but as I grew up and met people from different countries I realized that we were more alike than we were different. The next blog that really caught my attention was "Tired.". Riverbend talks about a boy who was 10 or 11 years old who got killed during an American raid. She expresses her anger about how people never mention those kinds of things. She is frustrated that innocent children get killed, but no one has any answers or anything to say about. It really shifted my perspective and made me realize how true that was. I never hear about the innocent children that are killed in Iraq, it's almost like America knows it's wrong, but they don't want to admit it. Riverbend also elaborates on the raids and how American's think that people from Iraq are ungrateful because the raids are supposed to help the people of Iraq. But Riverbend brings up such a good point and that point is that the raids prove that they are no longer free and safe in their own homes since a raid can happen at any point in time. I cannot imagine how that must feel and the anxiety it must bring to the people, especially children. I'm really glad I read this blog and got a chance to see a different perspective on the war.

"Life is not fair, death is even less fair..."

The "Baghdad Burning" blog really caught my attention more than I expected it to. By looking around the blog, I decided to start with her very first post, entitled "The Beginning...". What was a simple introduction of herself and what the blog will be, she ends with this phrase that slightly took my breath away: "I survived the war. That's all you need to know. It's all that matters these days anyway." It seems that when people come back from the war as a survivor, they are mostly looked at as a hero to others. To them however, all that matters is that they are here to see another day, not what they could have lost their life for.
Looking forward to a few days later, a blog post titled "Tired" also caught my attention. She is telling her readers about her struggle with sleeping, which can be very common in any person. Reading further on, you learn that she is struggling to listen for gun shots and tanks. Something that would not normally be spoken about my a war veteran up front, she is letting her readers into her deep, dark thoughts that she is struggling with while being back home. While this blog does not necessarily change my thoughts on soldiers after the war, it does make me realize how much they truly can hold on to inside and not let others know about. Maybe this blog was created to let out her thoughts that she knew people would think she was crazy if she told them in person. I always have given war veterans the utmost respect, and this blog just makes me realize even more how strong they truly are, emotionally and physically.