Just Beyond the Riverbend... (On Iraq, pt. 1)

I was only 17 when the United States took it's "military action" against Iraq and Saddam Hussein's regime, but I was against it even then for the lack of evidence of WMDs and the lack of support in the UN. Though I agreed Osama bin Ladin and al-Qaeda should be pursued, I was wary of the intentional, yet blind attitude of war the United States had taken on since 9-11 and was afraid of the blood lust that Americans possessed. In late 2004, I found a blog which intrigued me and began my education process on the true situation for Iraqis since the beginning of the Iraq war. The blogger simply went by the alias of "Riverbend" or "River" for short. She was born in Iraq, but lived abroad several years before returning there (which was more common than many might think) and was thus fluent in English. I would highly recommend reading Riverbend's blog Baghdad Burning.
I checked her blog today because I realized I had not done so in quite some time and found out that she had stopped blogging over a year ago when she and her family had fled to Damascus, Syria. Today I wrote her an e-mail encouraging her to continue blogging and sharing her experiences and opinions if possible. I can not agree with all of her opinions about Americans, but I do believe that her experiences and opinions are valid and valuable and therefore need to be shared.

River,
I don't know if you're blogging on-line any where these days, but I have followed your Riverbend "Baghdad Burning" blog on and off since 2004. I am an American who has been fiercely against the war since the beginning and was quite quickly disillusioned with the media, therefore I found your blogging of your experiences and opinions to be highly valuable. I have been reading other blogs, regional magazine entries, and journals to keep updated, but hadn't stopped by your blog in over a year. I always find your entries to be heart wrenching, but your last few, especially about Sabrine and your experience of having to flee to Damascus, made me weep (more than usual, I should say). I don't know where you are--whether you are still in Damascus, have gone back to Iraq, or have moved elsewhere--but please don't stop writing. Even if you are no longer in Iraq, your voice is needed. Your voice is needed now just as much as it was over the past four years. Though American sentiment has begun to change, the truth is still unknown (covered up by those in power in the government) and it is difficult for the common people to understand the atrocities that have and are still taking place due to the highly mis-informative media. As always, I pray for peace between our countries, within your nation and among all Iraqis, and for all families scattered across the earth who are broken and scarred by this horrific war. May Allah bless you and keep you.

Dani
aka Brownidgurl85

Some may be slightly confused as to why I added the last sentence. "Allah" in Arabic means "God" and is actually used by Arab Christians as well. Therefore, the word seemed fitting. See, you learn something new every day. ;)
Others may say to me, "Dani, she is Iraqi and Sunni and therefore is going to be incredibly biased about all of this." Of course there is a bias on her part, as there is a bias on all of ours. But it is when we educate ourselves on what is being experienced and open up our minds to consider the opinions of others that we begin to scratch the surface of the truth. Americans have been in the dark for far too long. More to come later.