In October my ASTU class was introduced to a blog called “Baghdad Burning” written by an Iraqi women who uses the web name Riverbend. This blog is a narrative of what life was like during the American occupation of Iraq, reflecting on politics and Iraqi culture. Riverbend’s blog proves to be a testament to the strength of the Iraqi’s, because of the way it depicts daily horrors people had to face during the war, such as bombings, power outages, extreme violence and death.
Though all of Riverbend’s posts are interesting, I wanted to examine the specific example of a post entitled “American Heroes…” posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at 9:37 pm. This post (which I have linked below) starts off with the depiction of a scene where a “mosque is strewn with bodies of Iraqis.” Riverbend then goes on to describe the brutality of the American Marines, as one of them shots a “seemingly dead man”, and says matter-of-factly, “he’s dead now.” She reveals that her family had watched this scene unfold on the news, even her young cousin. The small girl is shocked by watching this and ask, “Is he dead? Did they kill him?” It becomes clear the moral dilemma the adults are posed with by this question. Though the true answer was, “yes darling, they killed him,” it pains Riverbend’s cousin to have to tell his daughter the truth. A child should not be subject to witnessing such violence, never mind live in a country engulfed war, where such atrocities have sadly become common place.
It is this idea of such atrocities becoming common place that seems to trouble Riverbend the most. That an American solider who were supposedly there to free the Iraqi’s from their ‘terrible political state’ committed such brutal acts of violence against helpless Iraqis. It becomes apparent that this was the reality of the invasion though, and that this was not an isolated event. It also become clear that but that these type events were not only tolerated, but blatantly covered up. After all the Americans were supposed to be heroes, liberating the Iraqi people, although the reality was that many of them were actually “murderers.”
“Bagdad Burning”, written in english is very clearly directed towards a western audience, and so something important to point out about this specific post is how it begins. The family is depicted watching the news report of the event, as if removed from the war like westerners. The main difference though lies in the actual content of what would have been show to its audience. Where Riverbend and her family witness an American soldier kill a hopeless man, Americans were supposed to be in support of the war and lead to believe the soldiers going over seas to Iraqi were American heroes. Riverbend suggests that Americans were perceiving the invasion the wrong way, and so she blatantly directs the reality of the invasion to an American audience when she writes, “the people slaughtering Iraqis- torturing in prisons and shooting wounded prisoners- are “American Heroes”. Congratulations, you must be so proud of yourselves today.”
It is blogs like “Bagdad Burning” and a similar blog – “Where’s Read” that work as life narratives to provide truth. Blogs that have little market incentive,and so uncomodifyed these life narratives are very powerful literary works. Though directed to a western audience these blogs are written by someone living through the war and updated as the war evolves resulting in an honest depiction of the struggle.
Link to Riverbend’s blog post “American Heroes”, click here: http://riverbendblog.blogspot.ca/2004_11_01_archive.html
Link to the blog “Where is Raed?”, click here: http://dear_raed.blogspot.ca