Last month,
Steven D posted a diary asking if anyone knew if
Riverbend, girl blogger from
Baghdad Burning was still alive. As far as I know, the question has yet to be answered.
It has now been over 2 months since her last post, and I grow more and more worried that something has happened to her.
I, like many others, look forward to her blog posts. They are a dose of truth and reality when there is so little in the world right now, from a source that is undeniable.
Not a reporter miles and miles away in the green zone.
She is the real deal...on the front lines. A citizen of the chaos we have created.
This is how she ended her last post:
I've said goodbye this last month to more people than I can count. Some of the `goodbyes' were hurried and furtive- the sort you say at night to the neighbor who got a death threat and is leaving at the break of dawn, quietly.
Some of the `goodbyes' were emotional and long-drawn, to the relatives and friends who can no longer bear to live in a country coming apart at the seams.
Many of the `goodbyes' were said stoically- almost casually- with a fake smile plastered on the face and the words, "See you soon"... Only to walk out the door and want to collapse with the burden of parting with yet another loved one.
During times like these I remember a speech Bush made in 2003: One of the big achievements he claimed was the return of jubilant `exiled' Iraqis to their country after the fall of Saddam. I'd like to see some numbers about the Iraqis currently outside of the country you are occupying... Not to mention internally displaced Iraqis abandoning their homes and cities.
I sometimes wonder if we'll ever know just how many hundreds of thousands of Iraqis left the country this bleak summer. I wonder how many of them will actually return. Where will they go? What will they do with themselves? Is it time to follow? Is it time to wash our hands of the country and try to find a stable life somewhere else?
Is that what she has done? Did she flee Iraq? Or did something terrible happen?
I pray that I'm just worrying for no reason...that she is safe and sound somewhere with a broken computer or something. Or just too busy trying to survive to worry about blogging.
I hope she knows how many people around the world care for her and treasure her every word...her eloquence and resilience in the face of so much chaos, violence, and hopelessness.
Riverbend, if you're out there please take care of yourself and know you are in my thoughts, and the thoughts of countless others.