by Riverbend

BAGHDAD BURNING is a collection of blog entries that were published online, over the course of a year, under the pen name 'Riverbend,' who reveals that she is 'Iraqi, female, and 24.' Begun in August, 2003, a few months after President Bush's May, 2003 'Mission Accomplished' aircraft carrier photo-op, Riverbend's blog entries clearly express her view that the American presence was an 'occupation' rather than a liberation. She heaps scorn on the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, American Paul Bremer III and ridicule on Ahmad Chalabi, the former opposition-in-exile leader who was made a member of the interim Iraqi Governing Council, whom she sees as grossly unqualified. She asks why the rebuilding of Iraq is not turned over to the skilled and able Iraqis, who have a stake in their own future. She expresses sympathy for the American soldiers and their struggle to live day-to-day under difficult conditions, and she answers questions and replies to criticism from her American readers. Riverbend identifies the issues that trouble the Iraqis most: lack of water, intermittent electricity, and intrusive, humiliating searches, all of which she and her family experienced directly. She also reports on the horrors of war across her country, commenting on the many civilian deaths (or 'collateral damage' in military parlance) and the constant stress felt by people living in a war zone. Nevertheless, Riverbend remains calm and collected in her online demeanor as she explains how young Iraqis once had normal lives that included dating, attending college, and going to clubs, and as she corrects the New York Times when they get it wrong about things such as Iraqi women's garb. Prior to the American invasion, she felt comfortable wearing blue jeans in public, but is no longer able to do so due to the fact that the invasion has actually emboldened the fundamentalists who harass women in the street who are not garbed traditionally. She reports that 'before the war around 50% of the college students were females, and over 50% of the working force was composed of women,' but says this is no longer the case (her own job as a computer operator no longer exists). There are gaps in her entry keeping where, she says later, she was too tired or unwilling to write. When the news of Abu Ghraib breaks in May, 2004 she reports 'the people are seething with anger.' Riverbend's blogs have a compelling immediacy, and hers is the voice of Iraq's future--a future she says she is unable to envision.