HW#32 Response to Riverbend

For this homework assignment we were asked to pick a topic that Riverbend talks about and summarize it in our own words. I chose to talk about Akila Al-Hashami. Akila was recently chosen from one of the three governing councils. She was the first actual "foreign representative" of the new government. On September 20, Akila was leaving work when she was shot by men who cut off her car and began to take fire on her and her "body guards." She was taken to the hospital where they stated that she was wounded in the foot, shoulder, and stomach; she did survive but was in critical condition. This makes me wonder about how good her "body guards" actually were. They obviously weren’t doing a great job if this happened. But then again their is nothing they can do about a random pick-up truck with armed men coming at them. Riverbend says how this signifies that women are not safe anywhere. Akila was actually one of the more decent members on the council, and it lets us know that even her high power can’t protect her. Riverbend asks the question if Akila got a warning letter, and that she should have had better protection. "If they are not going to protect on of the three female members of the government council, who are they going to protect?" (Riverbend 76) I think that this is a very true statement/question. They were assigned to only ONE member, Akila, and they could not fulfill their duties. Riverbend sums it up by saying that "Baghdad is real safe when armed men can ride around in SUV's and pick-ups throwing grenades and opening fire on governing council, of all people." This is no way for anyone one to have to live, it’s not right or fair. And they should catch whoever did this.