“In a place of extreme violence and devoid of order, the practical subsumes the principle. I drifted down the path of bribery and corruption endemic to the streets of Baghdad” (Jason Whitely). The war in Iraq caused hundreds of thousands of civilian and military casualties from all parties attributed to the invasion. Even to this day there are regional issues in and around Iraq. Riverbend, not her real name, is a young, 24 year old women who lived in Iraq during these times and wrote of her journey on the internet. These blog posts are now strung together in a book titled Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq. Riverbend tells the readers stories of political campaigns and conflicts, cultural beliefs, and goes into great detail of how the war …show more content…
Tensions have been rising ever so slightly every year. “Many in the West see Muslims as fanatical, violent, and as lacking tolerance. Meanwhile, Muslims in the Middle East and Asia generally see Westerners as selfish, immoral and greedy – as well as violent and fanatical” (Pew Research Center). Each country has strict views on how certain topics are to be handled. After the September attacks in 2001, more westerners have basically clumped all Middle Easterners to be labelled as terrorists. This is why orientalism is defined as the attitude the West has Towards the East, specifically the Middle East. River …show more content…
These people are those who are closed off and closed minded to other cultures and don’t see the point in trying to compromise. In Baghdad Burning, River receives multiple emails telling her that she is wrong and what she writes isn’t even the truth. Some comments are so redundant such as this one that River calls Little Dougie, “You should be thanking your lucky stars that Rumsfeld, and not Saddam, was in the Pentagon when your asshole buddies flew into it. Otherwise you and your whole family would be radioactive dust right now. If it were up to me I would have vaporized you 10 minutes after the Trade center attacks” (Riverbend 52). It is amazing that people hold these types of criticisms to a certain race. River even notices that Iraqi people have just as much dislike for the American soldiers as the commenters do her. Hate is a difficult word to use, but she described the citizens of Iraq as such; they were mad and felt outraged that the soldiers were not protecting them and at every corner taking care of trouble. The fear we feel towards each race is so huge that it takes us over and produces