HW 28:An Open Letter to Riverbend

Dear Riverbend,
It's hard to even begin to imagine what you must be going through living in a place that you used to call home but now is so completely different for you. As you know, a lot of Americans only get one side of the story in Iraq. We are only shown on television what seem to be the worst parts of your country and not the parts that were once so beautiful, like the highways and bridges decorated with flowers. I think that it is hard to be totally for or totally against the war. I think that most people have mixed feelings, and I for one still do not completely understand why we are still in your country. I feel pity for all the soldiers who have gone over to Iraq to do their parts. I know that it is not easy for them to be over there either, see all the horrible things that you see, and come back to the United States and not being able to sleep for days, weeks or months because things seem too quiet. I do feel bad for you and your family having to deal with raids and worrying about driving to your aunts house, having to carry weapons with you when you go outside, and being used to hearing guns, bombs, tanks and airplanes. Most people take for granted those little aspects of life that come so easily, and I agree with you that it is not fair that all the people in your country are being taken away from their families, and their jobs are being taken away from them in a split second. Although it is awful, I believe that it helps for Americans to read Baghdad Burning and understand what is happening in your country, to understand really what is going on from a person who is living their point of view and not from the news, because the news only shows a part of the story and certainly not both sides of the story. I enjoy reading your blog posts because they continue to inform me about what exactly is happening in Iraq. I wish the best for you and your family and I hope that this war soon comes to an end for both the United States and Iraq’s sake.