isen.blog

Halley is one of my favorite bloggers. She writes powerfully from Boston of the tragic side of the California fires:

"I don't think anyone can imagine what it's like to watch your house, all your clothes, all your books, all your papers, maybe all the photo albums you didn't snatch in time -- all of it go up in flames . . . As we see reports this morning -- this mourning -- out of California, our hearts go out to our friends, neighbors, sisters, brothers, cousins -- which is to say -- our hearts go out to perfect strangers, as they contemplate their total loss."

The U.S. media lets us see the human side of the California fires.

The U.S. media don't let us close to the no less profoundly human side of the Iraqi tragedy. Riverbend's powerful writing steps into this void; it helps me understand Iraq in ways that "the news" doesn't. For example, remember the incident a few weeks ago in which, “US soldiers driving bulldozers, with jazz blaring from loudspeakers, [] uprooted ancient groves of date palms as well as orange and lemon trees in central Iraq as part of a new policy of collective punishment of farmers who do not give information about guerrillas attacking US troops.” Riverbend writes :

"Every bit of a palm is an investment. The fronds and leaves are dried and used to make beautiful, pale-yellow baskets, brooms, mats, bags, hats, wall hangings and even used for roofing. The fronds are often composed of thick, heavy wood at their ends and are used to make lovely, seemingly-delicate furniture- similar to the bamboo chairs and tables of the Far East. The low-quality dates and the date pits are used as animal feed for cows and sheep. Some of the date pits are the source of a sort of ‘date oil’ that can be used for cooking. The palm itself, should it be cut down, is used as firewood, or for building."

And then:

"The trees are bulldozed and trampled beneath heavy machinery. We see the residents and keepers of these orchards begging the troops to spare the trees, holding up crushed branches, leaves and fruit- not yet ripe- from the ground littered with a green massacre. The faces of the farmers are crushed and amazed at the atrocity. I remember one wrinkled face holding up 4 oranges from the ground, still green (our citrus fruit ripens in the winter) and screaming at the camera- 'Is this freedom? Is this democracy?!'”

These brief excerpts don't do justice to Riverbend's excellent blogging. She tells as powerful a story as the story of the California fires. But her story is told only in the blogosphere.