"Listening to Iraq"

A moving column from Ann Friedman (aka "one blogger") about the human stories of Iraq fading from view:

The news outlets that still report from Iraq rarely publish accounts of daily life there. Rarer still are narratives from outside the confines of the Green Zone. Sure, we get snippets of information from Iraqi reporters working with Western journalists, but most of the time, Iraqis' voices come to us in the form of react-quotes after a marketplace bombing or sectarian uprising. We don't see what it's like for Iraqis to walk home from the scene of the violence, then make dinner, then put their kids to bed. We lack the humanizing power of detail. [...]

But between 2006 and 2007, almost all of those bloggers, Riverbend included, left Iraq out of fear for their safety. Some continue to blog about the war, but do so from places like Philadelphia or Amman, and primarily rely on news accounts and updates they hear from relatives still in the country. Meanwhile, day-to-day stories of life under occupation have become much harder to find, especially for readers who don't read Arabic.

There's more there, read the whole thing.

Comments

Just assume it's hell on Earth. Intermittently interrupted by something even worse. Then back to "HELL" mode.

Posted by steve duncan | April 24, 2008 11:36 AM

Here's a story about one particular aspect of that hell: women who've lost their husbands struggling to make things work on their own.

Posted by THS | April 24, 2008 11:58 AM

"But between 2006 and 2007, almost all of those bloggers, Riverbend included"

Berhaps because Riverbend and her family grew rich under Saddam.

Posted by Dave | April 24, 2008 12:07 PM

Berhaps (sic) because Riverbend and her family grew rich under Saddam.
Posted by Dave | April 24, 2008 12:07 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course becoming prosperous is a sin.

Posted by steve duncan | April 24, 2008 12:15 PM

You know you are filth, right Dave? Don't need to point that out?

Posted by Ed Marshall | April 24, 2008 12:18 PM

I'll point it out.

He's right wing scum.

Riverbend is definitely one of those women who has not benefited from the rise of the Shia into power. An IT person, she was kicked out of her job when it became too dangerous for women to hold down such jobs. Not to mention that unemployment in Iraq now is what, sixty percent or more?

Being an educated female and being able to have a job in Iraq is no doubt what nitwit Dave refers to as "getting rich from Saddam."

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | April 24, 2008 12:39 PM

Riverbend has never said exactly who she is, but this blogger did some investigative reporting.

http://crymeariverii.blogspot.com/2004/06/who-is-riverbend.html

Posted by Dave | April 24, 2008 1:12 PM

No, someone pulled a bunch of crap out of his ass and it appeals to you because you are an asshole so you can't tell the difference.

Posted by Ed Marshall | April 24, 2008 2:32 PM

Re: An IT person, she was kicked out of her job when it became too dangerous for women to hold down such jobs

The Shi'ites are not the Taliban and attitudes tioward women holding jobs differ very radically among Muslims (even among conservative Muslims). To be sure almost all Islamic sects, even moderate ones, embrace a degree of sexual modesty which is well past the point of prudery, but that doesn't necessarily extent to a "Kinder, Kirche, Kuche" view of women's roles. Check out neighboring (Shi'ite) Iran where there are more female legislators than in the US.

Posted by JonF | April 24, 2008 3:01 PM

The Shia may not be the Taliban, but there definitely has been a major downtown in Iraqi women holding jobs compared to under Saddam.

If I remember correctly, Riverbend explicitly said in an early blog post that she was kicked out simply for being female. I forget the details.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | April 25, 2008 12:28 AM