HW 25: Riverbend and Iraq

I was surprised when I read the forward of Baghdad Burning written by Ahdaf Soueif. Forwards in books are usually somewhat boring and monotonous, however the author immediately had my attention at the beginning. Soueif starts out by describing Riverbend and what her blog is about. He states:

“Baghdad Burning brings us as close to the war in Iraq as it’s possible to be. And “close” does not mean just knowing about electricity cuts and water shortages, about street battles and raids on homes; “close” means right inside the heart and mind of young Baghdadi woman as she lives through the war.” (Soueif, vii)

By just reading the forward I already feel extremely close to Riverbend and her family, I find it so interesting about how her readers are all so dedicated to her blog and check it constantly. If they hear news about Iraq they always check her blog to see if a new post has been written to insure her safety. I am already excited to read her book and hear her stories about what it is like to live in Iraq, I also hope to look at her blog and see what kinds of things she has to say there.

The introduction is written by James Ridgeway, the context includes more of a background about the United States and Iraq. He goes into great detail about the United States relations with Iraq and other countries, he goes on to describe September 11th and what an impact it has made on both of our countries. It is important to read the introduction to get a sense of what is going on today in the Middle East and what specifically has caused so much violence. One interesting fact I learned from the introduction was that the United States was planning on invading Iraq even before September 11th occurred. He states:

“The Bush administration appears to have determined to go to war against Saddam as a primary foreign policy goal well before 9/11. Claims of fault UN inspections, weapons of mass destruction were stated as the reasons for attack; all have been proven clearly false.” (Ridgeway, xvi)

My own memories of the U.S. invasion in Iraq are very personal; I was only in 7th grade when the World Trade Centers went down. I remember being extremely confused and hurt that something like this had happened in our own country. There was obviously much more to our invasion then I had understood at the time, that is why it is so important for people to understand what is going on in Iraq, and Riverbend’s blog seems like a great way to do that.