For this weeks assignment we read the
book Baghdad Burning. This book portrays the blog of a 24 year old Iraqi woman
named “Riverbend” telling her side of what was happening during the war against
America. She shares her personal experiences a long with many other stories of
the horrors taking place in Baghdad. As an American I had a one sided view of
the war and this book opened by eyes to the other side.
The
media was also very influential in spreading their take on what was happening
during the war. This blog gave us insight into the first hand experiences of
the Iraqi people instead of the power hungry newscasters and political figures
points of view.
Riverbend
starts the novel by explaining her life and how she has a college degree, and
had a job but that has changed and she is now unemployed. In my opinion the war
with America has been the hardest on the women. Women went from having 50% of
jobs to most of them losing their jobs. Women also cannot go anywhere alone,
they need a male with them at all times. I feel this is unfair to women. The
Iraqi people live in constant fear everyday of bombs and raids. One thing that
stuck out to me while reading was Riverbend’s description of raids of troops
just storming into theirs homes and taking their belongings and destroying
their homes while making them leave the house. Raids can also go terribly wrong
if an Iraqi takes out a weapon many can end up dead or wounded. One instance
Riverbend discusses is a time where a large tank was on the main road leading
to their home and her and her family were afraid the entire night that they
would raid their home and take their gold or someone will be hurt. It upset me
that Riverbend was nervous to even put on her pajamas in the case that the
troops would come into her home. Iraq is not only having troubles of being
scared of raids and bombs, they have economic issues, schooling issues, and
political issues.
It
is funny to me that Americans have had views about Iraqi people that are not
always true. Many Americans believe that it is a custom of Iraqi people to
marry their cousins, and that all women wear “veils” surrounding their entire
face and head. These stereotypes of Iraqis are changed when Riverbent describes
that many Iraqi women find their husbands in school and at work and are not
related to one another. Marrying your cousin was a custom of the past and the
times have changed drastically. Women also do not wear “veils” around their
head. Although some do, most Iraqi women wear “hijabs.”
Americans
do not understand the struggles that took place in Iraq during the war until
reading this blog. At the end of the novel I was intrigued when Riverbend
stated “We have 9/11’s on a monthly basis. Each and every Iraqi person who dies
with a bullet, a missile, a grenade, under torture, accidently—they all have
families and friends and people who care. The number of Iraqis dead since march
2003 is by now at least eight times the number of people who died in the world
trade center.” (p.286)
Like Jennifer, I also had a one sided view of this war until I read this book. Although I was young at the time, I was surrounded by the American view and what I saw in the media. It is frightening that people live lives where they do not have much freedom and rights. Like you had mentioned, women could not go anywhere alone and must be accompanied by a man during this time period. Not only are they living in constant fear outside of their house, but also in their own homes as well. Raids and bombings are a consistent thought because it could happen at any moment. Just like you had mentioned, Riverbend discusses in her blog how she was even nervous to put on her pajamas at night in case of troops coming into her home. The many issues that Iraq faces affects its people in many ways and to hear about these struggles is unfortunate and eye opening. I was definitely naive of these circumstances until I read Baghdad Burning.
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