USA Today: U.S. reporters
in Iraq face a new realm of difficulty
Sunday, December 17, 2006
By Peter Johnson
Reporting from Iraq is always dicey. Dozens of
journalists have been kidnapped, injured or killed
since the U.S. invasion almost four years ago.
But network and cable news reporters say the
escalation in sectarian violence, coupled with
uncertainty about the future U.S. role in Iraq, have
prompted Iraqis to be more wary of them and have made
an already dangerous assignment even more perilous.
Reporters say their ability to paint a full picture
of Iraq is increasingly difficult because of safety
restrictions that they or their news organizations
have imposed.
"We now have the 15-minute rule: We never stay
anywhere longer than 15 minutes," to reduce the
chance of kidnapping or attack, CBS' Elizabeth Palmer
says.
"If I go to somebody's house, I do so invisibly,"
Palmer says. "And I have to be conscious of the
people I show in my stories, because just putting
them on the screen might effectively be exposing them
to death."
Says ABC's Dan Harris: "I can't casually make a
decision locally with my producers, like 'Oh, let's
embed for the day' or 'Let's go on this raid.' We
have to run it up the flagpole internally, and it's a
subject of real discussion about what type of vehicle
we're in, what protection we'll have and is it worth
the risk.
"Every time we're driving around in one of their
vehicles, all I can think about is roadside bombs."
Those bombs, which severely injured ABC's Bob
Woodruff and CBS' Kimberly Dozier and killed CBS
cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan,
have made media outlets and reporters much more
cautious.
Fox News' David Mac Dougall says he'll no longer ride
in military Humvees, in favor of heavier armored
carriers.
"Before, we were more inclined to go on patrols,"
says Mac Dougall, who is spending his fourth straight
Christmas in Baghdad. "Now, we are actively thinking,
'Is this patrol worth it? What do we gain from this?
Could we get the story without going out?' "
Simply being seen with a foreigner is now enough to
get an Iraqi killed by insurgents, reporters say. As
such, normally talkative Iraqis are now more
reserved. Many want nothing to do with the media.
"Where
once you could rely on the general population to at
least watch your back, to alert you to what danger
may be around you, you can no longer, be it out of
fear and intimidation or a dwindling in sympathy or
empathy for us and our position," CNN correspondent
Michael Ware says. "In terms of the insurgency, we
are seen as legitimate targets: part of the problem,
not the solution."
Harris, who finished his sixth visit to Baghdad
Friday, says the biggest change is how profoundly
"pessimism is taking hold." In a story for ABC's
World News Tonight recently, Harris reported on how
his once "gung-ho" Iraqi translator now plans to flee
the country.
Harris says most Iraqis remain friendly and gracious.
"In the course of an interview, they may speak with
real venom about the action of my government, but
they'll still invite you in for tea."
That said, there are "plenty of bad guys who would
gladly and quickly kidnap or kill you," Harris says.
"I said to my driver casually the other day, 'If I
get out of this car, take off my flak jacket or get
rid of all my security and walk down the street, how
long would I last?' He said, 'Four or five seconds.'
"
Three years ago, Mac Dougall says, he and his
producers would routinely hop in a car and drive to
downtown Baghdad for dinner.
"Sure, we'd go with armed guards, but we'd head to an
Italian restaurant with red-and-white-checked
tablecloths, have a bottle of red wine, there'd be
Italian music playing, and apart from the Iraqi
waiters, you could have been anywhere in the world,"
Mac Dougall says.
"I'm not eating Italian food these days."
Knowing the dangers, why do reporters continue to go
back? It's the biggest story on the planet, they say.
"When you are watching American soldiers, guys from
Kansas, and Iraqis, doing enormous acts of heroism,
to not cover it, to go somewhere more comfortable —
safer — it just feels you wouldn't be doing those
people justice," says NBC's Jane Arraf, who has
reported from Iraq since the days when Saddam Hussein
ran the country.