The Role of Blogs in International Armed Conflicts (Part 1)

There was a time when armed conflict used to isolate an entire people or country. During the Desert Storm, first hand accounts from people living in Kuwait were rare. The world often had to rely on “ingenious” news reporters who managed to smuggle into the war-torn area and get an exclusive. Things have definitely changed since the first George Bush launched that attack.

In the recent attacks against Iraq, more and more firsthand accounts from the middle east has reached the rest of the world through personal blogs. The modern technology equally available in Iraq and in the rest of the world has allowed those in the middle of armed conflict to reach out and give their side of the story. Baghdad Burning (http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com), is one such account.

The blog is written by a woman who describes it as a “Girl Blog, let’s talk war, politics and occupation”. It is a firsthand account of her experiences in the streets of Baghdad from the start of the American war against terrorism up to the present “reconstruction” of Iraq. Daily experiences such as wearing a hijab have been given new meaning by the author.

Baghdad Burning gives the reader an insight of what the war has done to the regular Iraqi woman. It gives an intimate portrayal of the fears and thoughts of a woman caught in the midst of armed struggle. An average woman in the Philippines would be worried about which bag to carry. The author of Baghdad Burning is worried about carrying her Kalashnikov.

It talks of a woman’s fear of leaving her house without a hijab, the traditional garb worn by a Muslim woman over hear head. The presence of the Americans have driven even the most fearless of women into donning a veritable symbol of Muslim faith—regardless of her belief in the religion.

The blog is only one of many that has mushroomed since the beginning of the assault on Iraq. These modern-day Anne Franks provide an accurate and disturbingly real picture of how life goes on despite frequent rounds of mortar shells. Indeed, the power of blogs has reached new heights by bridging the gap between the world and a war-torn Iraq. It has given the ordinary man in Iraq an avenue for self-expression, an escape from the daily life in a country ravaged by war. No one can claim total isolation anymore. Be it by choice or by default, isolation has almost become a thing of the past. The world indeed has become smaller. Even the traditional barriers to communication have somehow ceased to exist.

But it goes beyond being just an avenue for self-expression. The blog has enabled the rest of the world to get a glimpse of life inside a war-torn country. To experience the effects of war with fresh eyes, reliving the stories as told by those who are affected the most—citizens of such a country and not by the foreign media who are often saddled with motives of angle and story-selling.