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HW32 First Impressions are Often the Best Ones
By pianofanatic | March 31, 2008
The book, Baghdad Burning is a collection of blog posts from an Iraqi woman. She gives her first-hand experience and insight into the effects of the wars that have been waged in the Middle East including the current war in Iraq. She does not give her name, but rather gives her penname of Riverbend. Her book of blogs has a forward by Ahdaf Soueif in which Ahdaf introduces the book. She says how Riverbend’s perspective is so authentic as opposed to people who are safely in their homes, far away from any fighting, writing about the war. Riverbend tells how once the Iraqi people actually felt sorry for the foreign soldiers because they saw that these young men would much rather be anywhere else, but those days have long since passed. Ahdaf mentions Riverbend’s annoyance at America’s views about anti-Americanism. They shun anyone who thinks poorly about the president or the war, but that doesn’t need to mean they are anti-American.
The introduction to “Baghdad Burning” was by James Ridgeway. He talks of how Riverbend describes the state of the schools in Iraq. The budget set to repair the damages that the current war has caused will only just cover teachers’ salaries. Then parents are often afraid to send their children to school for fear of kidnappers and the other dangers such as death that are very real possibilities every day. While children are becoming more illiterate, adults are more and more unemployed. The situation is getting worse and from the 2004 estimates, 25 to 50 percent of Iraqi adults were unemployed (Baghdad Burning XIX). In general Ridgeway’s introduction takes the reader over the various topics that Riverbend discusses in depth in the blog book; how the first Iraq war affected Iraq, how the Bush administration had been planning the second Iraq war even before the Trade Center buildings were destroyed and how Iraq has actually become worse since the war. Riverbend remembers a time when women were able to become geeks, as she was. They went to school and had real professions. Now that the war is going on, women are afraid to venture outside their homes for fear of being kidnapped, or killed. Their respect as humans has diminished greatly. Before the second Iraq war, girls and boys went to school equally numbered; now most children do not attend schools.
When the U.S. went to war in the Middle East I was nearing the end of middle school, therefore I was not very aware of news events. I remember being in sixth grade and hearing that the Trade Center buildings had been attacked, personally at the time I thought it was strange that our teacher would tell us something to do with the news. Then when I got home, it started to make sense. I saw the footage on TV and heard stories and it sank in. After that, America was at war. I saw bits and pieces of the news every day because my parents keep up with it, but it seems like we have been at war so long, when will it be over? The war has lasted almost the whole of my brother’s life, what kind of life is that to live? He draws pictures of people shooting people because that is what he sees on TV. I say, right on Riverbend, spread the word, this has got to stop.
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April 1st, 2008 at 11:12 am
Excellent work on HW 32!
I will add just one minor correction to the in-text citation. Since we know the author’s name for the foreward an MLA style in-text citation would read (Ridgeway xix) instead of (Baghdad Burning XIX).