Critique: Baghdad Burning (Japanese version)

I wrote an essay about a blog named "Baghdad Burning" in COMM318 class. The blog is made by Riverbend, an Iraqi woman, who survived Iraq war. The content is about war, politics and occupation and how she thinks about it. Riverbend writes this blog in Baghdad, a battlefield in Iraq war (recently, she moved to Syria). Through this blog, we can know "real" situation in Baghdad. Other TV news and newspapers sometimes distort the truth and justify the war, and some broadcast (such as Fo* News) forcus on "America side" too much and make America as hero. This blog is a useful tool to inform the real situation of Iraq war.

This blog is written in English, but I found its Japanese version. The same content, but some Japanese people translate it into Japanese. Thesefore, many Japanese people who don't understand English can read this blog. I think that is very good, bacause I believe that Japanese people should think about the war carefully, and promise that we won't wage war. Actually, Japanese goverment supported America and agreed to start Iraq war. Although the Japanese constitiution states,"Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes." (Wikipedia), it is fact that Japanese goverment supported Iraq war. When I saw that news, I couldn't believe it. I reckon the decidion was the biggest mistake which Koizumi (then Japanese Prime Minister) made. This blog is important for me as well, because I think I need to know what real war is.

This blog has been operated for around 4 years. It became a book, and won the third prize of the lettre ulysses award for the art of reportage in 2005. The book was published in Japan as well. This blog is influential with many people now. The feminist press (http://www.feministpress.org/Book/index.cfm?GCOI=55861100869560) says, "With thousands of loyal readers worldwide, the Riverbend blog is recognized around the world as a crucial source of information not available through the mainstream media."