Baghdad Burning

It saddens me to think that, in recent days, The Left Shue has become closer to an obituary column rather than a commentary on people and events. Perhaps it is the fact that, during this particular time of the year, my mind tends to become more preoccupied with thoughts of life and death – humanity; inhumanity – gifts and loss.

Some of you may already be familiar with the blog “Baghdad Burning.” I feature it on my links on this page. For those who are not, I want to give you some background on the blogger and then ask you to read a few lines from the most recent post there. As you are taking stock of 2006 and examining your hopes for 2007, you might take some time to compare notes.

Riverbend is the pseudonym of a woman in her twenties who in 2003 began writing a blog relating her first hand experiences of the U.S. invasion and then occupation of her naive Iraq. Once a computer programmer in a modern, secular state, Riverbend discusses with honesty and acute political awareness the changes that resulted in the rise of religious fundamentalism. In 2005, she won 3rd Prize: Lettre Ulysses Award for Reportage and in 2006 was on the long list for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction. River, as she signs her posts, writes infrequently but with great power in what she has to say. In her most recent post, ”End of Another Year…””, she describes 2006 as, “…decidedly, the worst year yet.”

”This last year especially has been a turning point. Nearly every Iraqi has lost so much. So much. There's no way to describe the loss we've experienced with this war and occupation. There are no words to relay the feelings that come with the knowledge that daily almost 40 corpses are found in different states of decay and mutilation. There is no compensation for the dense, black cloud of fear that hangs over the head of every Iraqi. Fear of things so out of ones hands, it borders on the ridiculous- like whether your name is 'too Sunni' or 'too Shia'. Fear of the larger things- like the Americans in the tank, the police patrolling your area in black bandanas and green banners, and the Iraqi soldiers wearing black masks at the checkpoint”

And this:

”Here we come to the end of 2006 and I am sad. Not simply sad for the state of the country, but for the state of our humanity, as Iraqis. We've all lost some of the compassion and civility that I felt made us special four years ago. I take myself as an example. Nearly four years ago, I cringed every time I heard about the death of an American soldier. They were occupiers, but they were humans also and the knowledge that they were being killed in my country gave me sleepless nights. Never mind they crossed oceans to attack the country, I actually felt for them.
Had I not chronicled those feelings of agitation in this very blog, I wouldn't believe them now. Today, they simply represent numbers. 3000 Americans dead over nearly four years? Really? That's the number of dead Iraqis in less than a month. The Americans had families? Too bad. So do we. So do the corpses in the streets and the ones waiting for identification in the morgue.”

As we come to the end of this “Year of Transition” in Iraq, we note the death of the 3000th American service member to die as a result of duty in Iraq, the death of former president Gerald Ford - the man who brought us George HW Bush (CIA), Dick Cheney (Chief of Staff), and Donald Rumsfeld (Department of Defense), and Saddam Hussein – a man both embraced and despised by this country as it fit our purpose. However, as noted by Riverbend, perhaps the most significant “transition” is the loss of Iraq itself.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue