Wiki- What is Al Jazeera?

Al Jazeera is an English version of the Arabic language news network. It was launched November 1, 1996 and is owned by the state of Qatar but is available worldwide. The name Al Jazeera means "The Island" and refers to the Arabian Peninsula. This network was initially launched to broadcast Arabic news and current affairs but has become world renowned and well respected since its exclusive coverage on the War in Afghanistan in which it was the only channel to do so. It has become internationally recognized and even Hillary Clinton said that it was "more informative and less opinion-driven than American journalism". Al Jazeera now not only broadcasts Arabic news but also has an English language channel called Al Jazeera International.

The official site is here:

http://www.aljazeera.com

How many more Civilians will it take to reach Democracy?

This is the death toll from 2008 from this blog: 

http://iammarcel.com/Political%20Commentary/

Quite interesting how many Iraqis have been killed versus how many Americans and coalition members

Bush Tries to Revive Support for Iraq War as Death Toll Exceeds 2,000 (2005)

The Return of Riverbend

So I found this blogger, olivebranch, who is fond of Riverbend's Baghdad Burning. She was inspired by Riverbend to start blogging herself! Anyway, here is a link to one of the posts I found interesting, she lists her favorite quotes from Riverbend and I find them quite witty and amusing.

Here's the link:

http://bloggerslinks.blogspot.com/2005/09/return-of-riverbend-baghdad-burning.html

Baghdad Burning p.1

So for the past two weeks I've been devouring this book Baghdad Burning by Riverbend. The author is a semi-anonymous Iraqi woman blogging her perspective during the Occupation of Iraq. I say Occupation because I've always thought about it like this, I never agreed with the "War on Terrorism" or finding "Weapons of Mass Destruction" or the "War on Iraq". It's an Occupation and the more I read about it from an Iraqi citizen's point of view rather than the propaganda and fluffy news we hear about in America, the more I become aggravated about the situation.
First, I am not American I am Canadian however I am a legal "alien" in the United States. I have grown up half of my life in various parts of Canada and the other half up until now, in various parts of the US. I have travelled and have lived in many places and feel that I am well cultured. I have much more to learn and much much more to experience and I am open to new ideas, cultures and expressions. I am very interested in politics, more than many Americans I believe, and have an even bigger interest in global issues.
The Occupation in Iraq has always seemed interesting to me especially since the Bush administration and the Obama administration are really the only ones I remember well enough in my brief history in America. (I don't remember much about Clinton but I agree with him and my father's a supporter)
It's terrifying and quite.... awakening?....to truly see how Iraqis must deal with daily bombings, raids, assassinations, a puppet government among countless other things that are beyond imaginable to us.
I could go on and on but I'll leave that for other posts to come. Right now, I'm craving some spaghetti.