Letters to the Editor
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Is Iran next?
Ah yes, security in Baghdad. I saw a line on the website for the CBC in Canada (www.cbc.ca) that the Brits were going to be meeting with the Americans about an attack on Iran. Such lunacy seems to be in keeping with the ideological freaks at PNAC. Despite the swamp into which these criminal fools have plunged America, it looks like they have the next target clearly in their gun sights. More mayhem, more apathy on the part of the US media and congress...I can hardly wait.
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Can Salon verify who exactly "Riverbend" is?
Who is "Riverbend?" Can Salon answer that question with any authority? "She" has been publishing a blog for well over 3 years now, all while remaining safely and completely anonymous. She, or he, or they never a have a bad word to say about Saddam Hussein, or the despicable "insurgents" who murder her fellow iraqis every day. We have no idea whether she is a she, or a he, or a they, whether she even lives in Iraq, what her past relationship was with the regime of Saddam Hussein and his Baathist thugs. In the meantime, other Iraqi bloggers, like the men writing for Iraq the Model, actually sign their real names to their pieces and risk their lives by doing so. Salon and others who have embraced the anonymous "Riverbend," risk any credibility they have by publishing a writer whose background remains entirely obscure.
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RufusRyker
Isn't it a bit ironic that a writer who complains about Riverbend's anonymity signs his or her letter with a pseudonym?
He commends other Iraqi bloggers for "risking their lives" by signing their work. So does he demand everyone else in that situation do the same?
It is disgusting for someone in a safe place to demand that others risk their lives voluntarily -- even more than they are currently doing, involuntarily -- by revealing their names, before he considers their words worth reading. And this when he himself does not have the courage to do the same, posting from what is most probably a rather safe place. Also rather disgusting is the implied connection to Riverbend's "past relationship ... with the regime of Saddam Hussein and his Baathist thugs."
Though, admittedly, no more disgusting than the other apologia and propaganda for this bloody adventure.
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Riverbend's anonymity
I, for one, do not blame Riverbend for wanting to maintain her anonymity. I do agree, though, that readers have the right to know whether the author's claims are legitimate; i.e., is she really an Iraqi woman living in Baghdad. The authenticity of her reports tells me that's she's the real thing. However, I've questioned from the beginning how she manages to produce a blog in essentially flawless English. She may be a linguistic prodigy, she may have lived many years outside of Iraq, or her blog may be translated from Arabic or heavily edited. None of these possibilities takes away from the compelling nature of her blog but I think the reader deserves some sort of explanation.
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commies
This is nothing more than a propaganda piece written by the lefty communists.
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Identity
Flawless English, I guess to many Americans the idea that an Arab, and Arab woman at that, writing or speaking flawless English is improbable. I would like to remind you that most Arab countries have elite English and American schools and Universities. In addition, many Arabs travel abroad for their education. So, all you have to do is go to an Arab country or speak to many Arabs that come to America or England already proficient in English. Once again, the perversion of racist implication.
I have been reading Riverbend and frankly, unless someone can come up with real questions regarding her identity, I believe she is real. Her blogs come in spurts, like the electricity in Iraq. What makes you think the others are using their real names? They could sound like real Arab names but could be manufactured.
My question is why is the media not checking the fact that Iraqi's are told not to trust the police? Who is following through with this story? I was astounded when I read it last week and have been looking for follow up but there is none to be found. Why the silence?
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Oh, Those Wacky Communists!
> This is nothing more than a propaganda piece written by the lefty communists.
That's right ... because the (oh-so-many) atheist Communists are really Fundamentalist Muslims. That makes a lot of sense.
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So Riverbend's command of English...
casts doubt on her legitimacy? She can't possibly be Iraqi because she writes proficiently in English?
Many of my international students write more fluently in English than the native speakers in the class. It's not uncommon to find international students who can read, write, and speak 3 or more languages with fluency.
It's well known that most of the world recognizes the benefits of multilingualism and teaches their children accordingly, with the notable exception of the U.S.
How very American to assume that, since we don't value the acquisition of languages other than our own, neither does anyone else.
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I Am So Sorry
That Riverbend and the Iraqi people have to live in this terror.
I've been reading her blog for a very long time and it jibes consistently with other information that comes to us out of Iraq.
As for the disbelief that an Iraqi could have this kind of command of English -- it's related to the disbelief exhibited for so long in many quarters that people in the Middle East have expertise with computers and all the other technological paraphernalia of contemporary life, including the ability to have satellite television networks. This disbelief -- this ignorance -- has mired too many in D.C. and around the nation in a bog of unreality, yet they are always ready to throw more good money -- not to mention lives -- after bad. Trillions by all accounts now.
Fox
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My response to "Teemu Leisti" and company
Does "Riverbend" have a right to remain anonymous? Of course she does. She can call herself Riverbend until the cows come home. My letter was directed at Salon and other media outlets who re-print her blog entries without verifying that the author is who she says she is. Ethically, this is a questionable practice.
If say, the Weekly Standard started re-printing the blog of an anonymous writer who only presented an unblemished, rosy picture of Iraq, we'd have every right to insist that the editorial staff at the very least confirm the author's identity. And if said author turned out to be some right winger living in New Jersey, the publication's reputation would deservedly suffer.
If you go to Iraqi Bloggers Central, you will find many linked bloggers who are not anonymous -- some of who provide a portrait of present day Iraq that is anything but rosy. I think "Riverbend" has attracted more attention because of her unwaveringly bleak outlook and her complete inability to say anything remotely positive about the post-Saddam Iraq. But hey, it got her a book deal. The few book reviews I've read also fail to mention that the only source for information about Riverbend comes from Riverbend herself.
How much effort would it take for Salon editor Gary Kamiya to insist on a 15 minute phone call with his star blogger. I'm just speculating, but if she is the daughter of a Baathist diplomat or high ranking official, who received the kind of education and benefits that most Iraqis under Saddam could only dream about, then I think Salon's readers deserve to know that. She can still remain anonymous and call herself Riverbend, even when staring at a mirror.