A central theme from Riverbend's blog is violence. Riverbend often feels sympathetic towards the American soldiers in Iraq, but it also seems as if she is perhaps a bit jealous of the fact that they will most likely return to their hometowns in a few months to a year. Like Riverbend says to describe her feelings toward the soldiers, "...mixed feelings in a messed up world."
"...tanks and guns can break bones, but emails can be deleted." (pg. 10).
"I can tell you how far away it is...I keep wondering...will an airplane ever sound the same again?" (pg. 12).
(In response to a comment from Paul Bremer)"Where is this guy living? Is he even in the same time zone??? I'm incredulous...maybe he's from some alternate universe where shooting, looting, tanks, rape, abductions, and assassinations weren't considered chaos, but it's chaos in *my* world" (pg. 37).
"Being out in the street is like being caught in a tornado. You have to be alert and ready for anything at any moment." (pg. 40).
"I remember them drag out bodies so charred, you couldn't tell they were human. I remember frantic people, running from corpse to corpse, trying to identify a loved-one... I remember seeing Iraqi aid workers, cleaning out the shelter, fainting with the unbearable scenes inside. I remember the whole area reeked with the smell of burnt flesh for weeks and weeks after." (pg. 46-47).
"There was shouting and screaming-the deep, angry tones of the troops mixed with the shriller voices of the family and neighbors-the whole symphony boding of calamity and fear." (pg. 73).
