Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln

The author of the blog, M.L. Lyke, is a journalist who spent three weeks in March 2003 on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. She describes daily life aboard the ship in the days preceding and following the onset of the war in Iraq. The events presented in the blogs range from birthday parties to helicopter training missions. The overall tone is one of curiosity, as she discovers the daily routines of war participants, so that her readers can put themselves in the shoes of those involved in the war. In the process, she collects a wide variety of opinions from soldiers and commanders; some are eager to help liberate the Iraqi people, others disagree with the purpose of the mission, and many are frightened by the media onslaught. I think that the blogs echo the uncertainty about the outcome of the war, still prevailing after 5 years of fighting. I admire the way Lyke succeeds in maintaining her objectivity and presenting the facts without the traditional bias of mass media.