Recently I stumbled upon an article on CNN’s Web site about “war blogs,” online journals soldiers use to communicate with their family and friends during military operations. Apparently some soldiers stationed in and around the Persian Gulf use Internet diaries to communicate not only to their families, but to any interested outsiders.
The most fascinating aspect of these “blogs” lies in their subversion of the media: None of the information goes through CNN or Fox News, so nothing is mediated or edited. Since the beginning of the war in Iraq, traffic increased dramatically in war-related web logs.
One soldier “blogger” carries the pseudonym of “L.T. Smash.” Smash is a reservist who was sent to the Persian Gulf last December, and his Web log carries the title of “Live from the Sandbox.” His blog entries vary widely, ranging from memorials to fallen comrades to descriptions of conversations he had with officers serving in his company. His real name kept secret and Smash receives thousands of visits per day (www.lt-smash.us).
“All the kids on ships have e-mail. Every single one has an account. It’s the main mode of communication today. These kids are sending e-mail two or three times a day,” L.T.’s father, a retired U.S. military officer told CNN.
In addition to soldiers with journals, one Iraqi citizen has gained popularity as an online destination. The man goes by the blogger name of Salam Pax, of which both words mean “peace” (in Arabic and Latin, respectively). In his online journal (http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/), he describes himself as a forward-thinking architect living in Baghdad, and his situation lends to profound firsthand accounts of the war not even “embedded” journalists can match. On March 23 he wrote:
“We start counting the hours from the moment one of the news channels report that the B-52s have left their airfield. It takes them around six hours to get to Iraq. On the first day of the bombing it worked precisely. Yesterday we were a bit surprised that after six hours bombs didn’t start falling. The attacks on Baghdad were much less than two days ago. We found out today in the news that the city of Tikrit got the hell bombed out of it. Today the B-52s took off at 3 p.m., on half an hour we will know whether it is Baghdad tonight or another city. Karbala was also hit last night.”
Not one to shy away from comment on the war, the American people and Saddam Hussein, Salam Pax describes the tortuous ways of the Iraqi regime in multiple entries. His March 20 entry describes an effort by the Iraqi Ministry of Information to finally bring home prisoners from the war between Iran and Iraq 15 years ago:
“Yesterday the last 500 prisoners from the Iraq-Iran war were being exchanged. I can’t believe they are still doing this, for f–k’s sake that war ended in 1989. every Iraqi family can tell you a hundred heart braking stories about things that happen when you have thought you brother/father/son is dead and he suddenly appears after 10 years.”
He cynically describes the attitude of Iraq’s citizens, telling of the last Gulf War when American forces pulled back after citizens staged uprisings. After the withdrawal of American troops, Hussein killed all who attempted a coup during the American presence in Iraq. Pax begs the question of why Iraqis should again stage uprisings when they are uncertain of whether or how the American forces will stay in Iraq. If Hussein again regains power, dissenters and opponents would certainly be crushed.
Salam Pax’s blog entries stopped on Monday, March 24. Questions have been raised as to whether or not he is still alive. Though there is debate across the Internet of whether or not he truly lives in Baghdad, his entries seem to be tidbits of information only an Iraqi could deliver. He confirms every morsel of information we receive from our news agencies, only earlier than the news agencies themselves.
No, the Web logs may not be the most complete or unbiased source of information, but they definitely provide a fascinating perspective to the war. The two aforementioned Web logs perform an important duty: they bring human faces to those engaged in the conflict. By humanizing the war through personal accounts, Web logs may become a cornerstone of the domestic war experience. Finally we can see the war through the eyes of an Iraqi civilian and an American soldier. Finally we can see what those engaged go through. We see who and what we are fighting for, against and with.