HW25: Responding to Riverbend

In the foreword of “Baghdad Burning” the book introduces a character by the name of “Riverbend.” She is a 24 year old woman, but that is not her real name. She blogs with the “fake” name “Riverbend” so that people aren’t aware of her real name. She talks about certain topics and the US, so her name is better off unsaid anyway. In this, we go on to learn that Riverbend has a mother and a brother named E. In the introduction the author talks about Riverbend’s life and talks about how Riverbend and her brother would sit and listen to tanks and gunshots. As he explains Riverbends life he gives a brief background on the history of the war. He talks about the Persian Gulf War and the 2003 war. Riverbend talks about how the wars really affected her and the women I nher country of Iraq. The introduction gives the reader background information and historical facts about Iraq and the war over their oil. "American government and industry issued warnings to the public of the impending dire shortage of petroleum, paving the way for higher prices to support more U.S. exploration and development (Riverbend xiii)."