# Concerned for Riverbend **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 30, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694 "2006-09-30T03:21:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/1 "2006-09-30T03:21:44Z")
It’s been almost two months since Riverbend last posted to her blog. I know there’ve been some extended breaks between posts in the past, but two months is long, even for her. Has anyone read anything about her lately? Just a little concerned. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/2 "2006-09-30T03:33:05Z")
Who is Riverbend? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/3 "2006-09-30T03:37:27Z")
She’s an [Iraqi blogger](http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/) who’s been posting street-level views of the entire stupid war since the invasion. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/4 "2006-09-30T03:40:32Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] entire stupid war [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/5 "2006-09-30T03:44:42Z")
While the OP is not mundane or pointless, it doesn’t really belong in General Questions. I’m moving to MPSIMS. **samclem** GQ moderator ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/6 "2006-09-30T03:55:55Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: right back at ya. If you can still stand there and justify the invasion of Iraq after three years of us making their country a worse hellhole than Hussein ever made it, you’re either delusional or willfully Bushlicking. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/7 "2006-09-30T03:59:13Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] :rolleyes: right back at ya. If you can still stand there and justify the invasion of Iraq after three years of us making their country a worse hellhole than Hussein ever made it, you’re either delusional or willfully Bushlicking. [/QUOTE] Sure I can justify it. How many times have we been hit here in the US by Islamic fundamentalist terrorists since? Better to fight them there than here, to be blunt. There you go. Next question. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/8 "2006-09-30T04:27:04Z")
[Is Riverbend Still Alive?](http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2006/9/25/21015/9663) Short answer: No one seems to know. I hope she’s fled the country. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/9 "2006-09-30T04:31:06Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] Sure I can justify it. How many times have we been hit here in the US by Islamic fundamentalist terrorists since? Better to fight them there than here, to be blunt. There you go. Next question. [/QUOTE] How many times were we hit here in the US by Islamic Fundamentalists between 1993 and 2001? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/10 "2006-09-30T04:54:04Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] Sure I can justify it. How many times have we been hit here in the US by Islamic fundamentalist terrorists since? Better to fight them there than here, to be blunt. There you go. Next question. [/QUOTE] And as long as I keep snapping my fingers, no elephants trample the lawn on this street. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/11 "2006-09-30T04:54:29Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] Sure I can justify it. How many times have we been hit here in the US by Islamic fundamentalist terrorists since? Better to fight them there than here, to be blunt. There you go. Next question. [/QUOTE] So, buying your theory for the moment, you claim that it’s justified to kill tens of thousands of Iraqis to keep a third party from harming us ? How would you feel if France ( given our larger population ) killed a few million people in America; nuking a few cities at random, and claimed it was to keep some other group away from them ? Would you consider that justified ? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/12 "2006-09-30T05:04:09Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] And as long as I keep snapping my fingers, no elephants trample the lawn on this street. [/QUOTE] Homer: The Bear Patrol is working! Not a bear in sight. Lisa: That’s specious reasoning, Dad. H: Thank you, honey. L: By that logic, I could claim this rock keeps tigers away H: Hmm. How does it work? L: It doesn’t work. That’s the point. But, you don’t see any Tigers around do you? H: (_pauses, thinks for a minute._) Lisa, I’d like to buy your rock. L: But Dad… H: (_silences Lisa with “talk to the hand” gesture._) L: (_Sighs, sells Homer rock._) ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/13 "2006-09-30T05:59:48Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] And as long as I keep snapping my fingers, no elephants trample the lawn on this street. [/QUOTE] Ahh, but that implies they never have. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/14 "2006-09-30T06:30:59Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] Ahh, but that implies they never have. [/QUOTE] In case you missed it, even G W Bush has admitted that Iraq had nothing to do with any attacks against the U.S. So, in your words, “they never have,” Now, since you insist on keeping this train of “thought” going, I suggest you move your remarks to your own thread: **GD** , **IMHO** , or the **Pit** as you feel is appropriate. You are hijacking this thread for no better purpose than to be a jerk. I don’t know whether you are impaired at the moment or you simply feel like being disruptive, but you will be better served by not continuing your current behavior in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/15 "2006-09-30T06:36:04Z")
Last I read, Riverbend was reflecting on the number of people who evacuated and their reasons for doing so. My guess is that she has too. There was only so much of Baghdad to burn. The other thing is that, being high profile in Baghdad especially, for any reason, may make someone a target to all sorts of parties. Even, if she is still there, there are strong reasons why she might not want to publicize her story much further. Moreover and understandably, there have been consistent and strong efforts by members of the US Right/Military to sabotage and divert her blog, being as it is candid and direct evidence of their failure. As with the marcro picture, there is no denying the skill of the US for destruction of the innocent and the true. So that is another possible scenario. While it is saddening to no longer hear so much from Ms Riverbend, for comic releif it can be entertaining to read the avowedly pro-US/US-sponsored blogs, which have more or less given up on trying to make something positive of this pig’s ear. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/16 "2006-09-30T12:41:30Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] [Is Riverbend Still Alive?](http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2006/9/25/21015/9663) Short answer: No one seems to know. I hope she’s fled the country. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the link, Squink. I, for one, truly hope she is okay. It would be an utter shame if a voice such as Riverbend’s is extinguished because of this unnecessary and, in my opinion, criminal war, as is the tragedy of every single life that’s been lost on all sides thus far. ☹ Sigh…I need to take a walk. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/17 "2006-09-30T12:55:30Z")
[QUOTE=Sevastopol] Moreover and understandably, there have been consistent and strong efforts by members of the US Right/Military to sabotage and divert her blog, being as it is candid and direct evidence of their failure. As with the marcro picture, there is no denying the skill of the US for destruction of the innocent and the true. So that is another possible scenario. [/QUOTE] Can you point me to any sites that discuss the efforts to sabotage her blog? I’m actually not surprised and kind of suspected this, given the Right’s penchant for trying to squelch any dissent or even questioning the motives of Bush et al, but I haven’t been able confirm my suspicions independently. TIA ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/18 "2006-09-30T14:41:07Z")
I’ll have a go. I think Riverbend herself discussed one such blog, which attempted to hi-jack the name. I think it was not long ago. And there were a couple of others dedicated to bringing her down and uncovering her identity. Which in the climate is a pretty nasty thing to try. I’m not sure it’s a search amenable to google but here goes … ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/19 "2006-09-30T14:57:55Z")
Iraqi Bloggers Central > [@](#): > > Well, the forces of darkness have threatened the life of the man behind Cry Me a Riverbend and he was forced to shut it down. Cry Me a Riverbend existed only because the Jarrars and Riverbend wouldn’t allow debate on their weblogs. The day they enable their comments pages is the day that “Jarrars up a River” terminates. Cry me a riverbend II blog. This is the guy. He is current or serving US military and in the former blog made no bones about his animosity. Sleepy now. More later maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694/20 "2006-10-19T17:18:04Z")
[Riverbend Endures (Oct 18):](http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/) > [@](#): > > This has been the longest time I have been away from blogging. There were several reasons for my disappearance the major one being the fact that every time I felt the urge to write about Iraq, about the situation, I’d be filled with a certain hopelessness that can’t be put into words and that I suspect other Iraqis feel also. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerned-for-riverbend/374694.md?page=2)