Just returned from seeing a dramatization of Riverbend's blog

[quiet.american]

Entitled "Baghdad Burning" and adapted from the book of the same name, I found it to be a very moving experience.

Reflections:

Even with all the suffering inflicted upon herself -- the sudden loss of her "computer geek" job, the institution of Sharia law, bringing with it the loss of all personal independence for women, the constant long outages of drinkable water, and of electricity, the death, abduction and imprisonment of completely innocent friends and neighbors -- I was struck at how long it took Riverbend to say anything bitter about Americans. In many entries, she noted again and again with a sense of compassion the heavy uniforms and equipment worn by American troops in the stifling, airless heat, how very young the troops were, and their fearful/bored/resentful faces filled with expressions questioning what they were doing there.

The ending to another entry in particular was also powerful. In it, Riverbend notes the date the official announcement was declared that the search for weapons of mass destruction was over, and ends the entry with words to the effect: "the Iraqis were never a threat to the American people. Congratulations -- now they are."

Juxtaposed throughout were the war criminals' (Paul Bremer, George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld, to name a few of the familiar thugs) inane and insane blurtings about "the good" we're doing in Iraq, with gut-wrenching stories of mothers and daughters in Abu Ghraib being beaten while pleading for each other's lives, cousins and neighbors being abducted for exhorbitant ransoms by newly-formed Iraqi militias, and grieving relatives poring over anonymous makeshift graves situated next to burnt-out vehicles marked only by the vehicle's scorched license plate, or with markings such as "1 Adult male; 2 female girls."

I couldn't help but think throughout the staged production, taken straight from Riverbend's blog entries, that somehow, all of this sounded familiar -- Does anyone think that if Bush could go on and on, he wouldn't cause the deaths of millions upon millions and still sleep soundly at night as he "gets on with his life"?

It felt almost obscenely unfair to leave the theater tonight and come out into a perfect New York summer evening. A night where my friends and I could get water, enjoy the benefits of electricity and not have any fears of abduction, beatings or imprisonment. The theater program states that Riverbend's last entry was July 15, 2005. I can't help but fear what fresh hell has come upon her. All because a criminally insane "president" lied and continues to lie this country into visiting untold horrors on hers. And the gullible, dumb, stupid, self-centered, shameless, and mentally/emotionally disturbed citizens among us continue to support him. (Although, thankfully, they seem to be shrinking to a minority).

Baghdad Burning searingly brings home Cindy Sheehan's question: what "noble cause" did her son die for?

All those who shout "We Don't Care" are ignorant ghouls who in one way or another will have to face their consciences somewhere, someday.

All of us who stand against this war crime are right and have been right from the start. I admire everyone who puts their voice, their money, their efforts into stopping this atrocity. Please, keep on keeping on.

[Tinksrival]

1. Bagdad Burning

I am reading the book now. I cry, I laugh, I am inspired and outraged!

[quiet.american]

2. After seeing this, it's definitely next on my list.

I can't help but think of Riverbend as the Anne Frank of her time -- but then what does that make us?