Quite different from other blogs I have read, Riverbend's posts having something enchanting about them. I feel as though I'm reading an extended haiku injected with puns, a careful understanding of international relations, and the horrific accounts of a life most American's could not fathom living. There is nevertheless, beneath it all, a young woman with a strong desire to survive and a desire to remind the world what the war in Iraq was about-and its consequences. She never loses her sense of humor either - "Tanks and guns may break my bones but emails can be deleted"-in which we are drawn closer to her. Myself and the rest of her reader like to think, "We 'get' her!" although the truth is we never will- a fact that Riverbend herself acknowledges.
For me, the war in Iraq is a broken memory. I was 9 after all when we invaded. How refreshing it is then to read an eyewitness account from someone 'on the other side.' American news has been and forever will be filled with jaded lies. Take Brian Williams for instance. Perhaps I'm still the most surprised by how much Riverbend captures rich and horrific experiences in so few sentences. I envy her as a writer equally as much as I admire her bravery for telling her story.
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