HW 25: Intro & Forward of "Baghdad Burning"

I thought the Forward and Introduction of Baghdad Burning was very interesting and it has already begun to open my mind and see the war in a different perspective. The forward, by Ahdaf Soueif, was a very brief description of the blog written by “Riverbend.” He uses many good quotes from her blog about the war and it helps bring his forward together. He talks about the recent war, and the invasion in 2004 to Iraq and how Riverbend approached her new lifestyle because of this.
The introduction of Baghdad Burning, by James Ridgeway, goes into much more detail about war and how Riverbend’s family is dealing with it. He talks about American politics and how the Bush administration wanted to send troops into Iraq even before 9/11. He talks about the American Government and how Riverbend refers to it as “the puppet show.” Ridgway talks about the Gulf War and World War II and how they built up to the 2003 war in Iraq. Riverbend also had to deal with the Gulf War by her home. He goes into depth about the Riverbend’s culture and the background of her culture like how it is “one of the oldest and richest civilizations in the world,” (Ridgeway, xii). Riverbend comes from a good part of Iraq where she was able to have a job, but unfortunately had to stop working after the war began. She now lives at home with her family and in fear of American Troops. There is also much talk about Saddam Hussein, Sunni Muslims, Shiites and many other different groups of Muslims living throughout Iraq.
The forward and introduction were very informative and well written. They each had a lot of emotion and passion about Riverbend’s blog and they have made me want to start reading this book/blog and learn more about this girl’s life.