Is Baghdad Burning?

It is amazing how, since the war in Iraq begun all those years ago, that we never hear from Iraqi women. There are lots of articles and blogs written by male Iraqis but the internet and journalism world is devoid of female voices. That all changed with Riverbend's blog, entitled "Baghdad Burning." Riverbend is an anonymous Iraqi woman who lived in Baghdad with her family and worked as a computer programmer before the war. Since the war began, Riverbend has been writing regular articles on her blog about the Iraqi war and U.S. occupation of Iraq in the post 9-11 world. Her blog gave us a real-life, real-time account of what is and was occurring in her area of Baghdad during the occupation. This volume covers her entries from August, 2003 through September of 2004.

I devoured this book in a matter of days, which, for me, is extremely quick because my job and life keep me extremely busy. I loved having an everyday peek into the life of an ordinary, Iraqi woman. Voyeurism, perhaps. An intrigue for the unknown and a desire to learn about the other side, most assuredly. Riverbend's entries are passionate, compassionate and sometimes funny. They are often angry and sometimes political. There is no doubt that Riverbend is well educated and well versed in American politics and she has no qualms about laying it all on the line, in an in your face manner.

Riverbend's writing is very eloquent and her emotions are always on the surface. Her entries made me think twice about my assumptions and feelings not only towards the war, but about the news that we are fed by our own media about how American presence is perceived by the average Iraqi. I particularly enjoyed her entries that described her day to day existence. Her entry describing waiting in line for water, then carrying heavy buckets back to her home where she poured the water out and walked back to get more, the buckets feeling so light that her arms felt like they would fly off of her body was very poignant. The world that she lived in, where electricity and water was turned on and off on a whim, where family members were kidnapped and held for ransom, where bombs went off daily and where traffic was diverted around the city was completely foreign to me.

This is not a perfect book or collection of essays by any means. The most common criticism has been that it isn't personal enough to be a diary of the times of the American occupation of Iraq. Another common criticism that I have seen is that the blog itself and the book that is comprised of those entries is too political. Yes, the blog is mostly political in nature, with the personal entries interspersed somewhat sporadically throughout her political commentary. However, many blogs are intensely political, especially ones that are comprised for the public's consumption at large. Yes, Riverbend may have an agenda in writing her blog. But just because you may not agree with that agenda should not dissuade you from reading this amazing book and continue with her blog. This is an important collection that will help to define our times.