RiverBend has another post up - Summer of Goodbyes...

[kpete]

Baghdad Burning
... I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and souls can mend...

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Summer of Goodbyes...

Residents of Baghdad are systematically being pushed out of the city. Some families are waking up to find a Klashnikov bullet and a letter in an envelope with the words “Leave your area or else.” The culprits behind these attacks and threats are Sadr’s followers- Mahdi Army. It’s general knowledge, although no one dares say it out loud. In the last month we’ve had two different families staying with us in our house, after having to leave their neighborhoods due to death threats and attacks. It’s not just Sunnis- it’s Shia, Arabs, Kurds- most of the middle-class areas are being targeted by militias.

Other areas are being overrun by armed Islamists. The Americans have absolutely no control in these areas. Or maybe they simply don’t want to control the areas because when there’s a clash between Sadr’s militia and another militia in a residential neighborhood, they surround the area and watch things happen.

Since the beginning of July, the men in our area have been patrolling the streets. Some of them patrol the rooftops and others sit quietly by the homemade road blocks we have on the major roads leading into the area. You cannot in any way rely on Americans or the government. You can only hope your family and friends will remain alive- not safe, not secure- just alive. That’s good enough.

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#115472425289075262

[cureautismnow]

1. Her blog should be required reading for all members of Congress.

She moves and touches me in so many ways. I just want to reach through the Internet "Tubes" and give her a big hug and tell her everything will be all right for her and her family. :hug:

I hope she's still blogging many years after the end of occupation and the end of internal Iraqi strife. Godspeed, Riverbend. You are a beautiful child in a wicked, cruel world.:cry:

[alfredo]

2. I hope she can get out before it is too late. An intelligent

educated woman is a threat to theocrats.

[DemoTex]

3. Riverbend's "Summer of Goodbyes" reminds me of Summer of '68 ..

Or my dad's Summer of '42. These were summers during bad times, after which things got much worse than we ever imagined they could. In fact, we didn't really know that the Summers of '42 and '68 were Summers of Goodbyes .. until it was far too late. We found later that we had not said nearly enough goodbyes (or I-love-you's) .. again, until it was far too late. Dear Riverbend knows, though. She has seen far too much. She is a gem shining from the hell that Bu$h has inflicted, unnecessarily, on her homeland. Call me selfish, but I'd like to see Riverbend far from Iraq - before it gets much, much worse than it already is.

[Recursion]

7. Good point

I sincerely believe '06 will be one of those "generational" years like '42 and '68. I'm not a religious man, but ever since I started reading Riverbend I put in an allahu akbar for her in the hopes that if there is an Allah he'll take a sinner's voucher for her.

Twice before, the American right-wing party has been destroyed; it happened to the Federalists in 1820 and to the Whigs in 1854... we're long overdue. Our right has once again outlived its usefulness; my hope is that this will go down as another boundary year between a broken, decrepit party system and a newer, more vibrant one. But my greater hope is that Riverbend can get the hell out of there.

At any rate, now is the time. We're having a Long Hot Summer once again. Time to revolve.

[Imajika]

4. What a disaster...

I'm afraid at this point we've allowed the Islamists to grow too strong. I sure don't wanna be in Iraq, but what is going happen to normal people like RiverBend when we leave?

Bush has created a horrific situation. How anyone can still support what Bush has done in Iraq is simply beyond me.

[DemonFighterLives]

5. Stay safe Riverbend

Kand R
:dem:

[DesertRat]

6. I'm rooting for you Riverbend...

I'm so sorry for what our country has done. :cry: