Somehow, the first person narrative lends reporting a special urgency that you don't get from antiseptic newspaper filings. Michael Ware, the intrepid TIME Bureau Chief, has some particularly stark words. For instance:
And later
Zarkawi’s terrorists control part of Baghdad in sight of US forces. The Iraqi government is a hollow shell unable to exercise any authority. There are terrorist safe havens, Al Qaeda-linked safe houses, bomb-making facilities, organizations, that exist here in Iraq now that did not exist a year ago and did not exist under Saddam. By invading this country, the U.S. administration has given birth to, has fostered, the very terrorist threat that they said they came here to prevent. Jihadis now come here to prove themselves, and we’re now seeing that exported within the region. Is that a success? We’re getting no traction here, we’re losing the population, and … and … Allawi, Allawi’s government is unable to move themselves. So what are we left with?
Well, I don’t think there’s too much historical precedent for this nature of warfare for journalists. Journalists have always been in the firing line in one form or another. But here, we’re now seeing increasingly, we’re specifically targeted. There’s nooooo, not even a vague sense of neutrality for us anymore. We’re seen as a Western interest that, according to Zarqawi’s people, who I’ve talked to, we are legitimate to take and literally behead. So, they’re looking for us. We’re a prized asset.
Some differences in the way I operate. I used to travel out to the, to the insurgent strongholds to meet their commanders. I’d be under their blanket of protection and travel to Fallujah or, or other safe havens. Now, I can’t do that because Zarqawi’s people may risk taking me. So what do they do? These commanders come to Baghdad to see me. I meet them inside Baghdad. That’s how free they feel now. But when I’m traveling to them, to somewhere in Baghdad, I can’t travel without one of their insurgent representatives in the car, ‘cause I can literally be snatched from my vehicle. And that’s what happened to me with Zarqawi’s people. If I didn’t have one of his representatives in the car, I was dead. Nonetheless, these guys are confident enough to come and see me here in Baghdad, the center of American power. What’s that telling us?
On a related note, I have a book recommendation: Jon Lee Anderson's The Fall of Baghdad. I just finished it at around 3 AM last night, because I couldn't put it down. Go read.