ABC TV (AUS) Enough Rope [transcript]

Monday, July 26, 2004

There are two types of war correspondent - those who stick to the circuit of military briefings, safe hotels and careful excursions into unstable areas, and those who throw themselves at the job with apparently reckless disregard for their own safety. Mike Ware is one of the latter. Writing from Afghanistan and Iraq for 'Time' magazine, he spent much of the past few years behind enemy lines, bringing back stories of the Taliban, Afghani war lords and, more recently, Iraqi insurgents. A few weeks ago some of those insurgents sent him tapes showing in chilling detail just how they go about their work, tapes whose images were soon flashed around the world.

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NPR: Iraq Propaganda

Monday, July 12, 2004

All Things Considered, July 12, 2004 · Both sides in the Iraq war use propaganda, but the insurgencies are becoming more and more sophisticated - broadcast quality videos of actual attacks, and the like. U.S. commanders sometimes use the videos to show their troops how the other side fights.
NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

Iraq Propaganda -- 7:29

Deep in the heart of terror (Courier-Mail)

Saturday, July 10, 2004

A Brisbane journalist has penetrated Iraq's network of insurgents, writes foreign editor David Costello

MICHAEL Ware has watched Arab extremists argue over whether he should be executed during terrifying encounters with insurgents in Iraq.

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CNN: When the reporter becomes the story

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

From a CNN report: Michael becomes the story when the insurgent groups with which he had made contact start sending him videos of their attacks.

The original intro:

Among the believers: an Australian journalist penetrates the Iraqi jihad and finds himself the insurgents latest pipeline to the international press.

It takes a special kind of courage for foreigners to live in Iraq right now. It takes a stunning kind to put your life in the hands of people who kidnap and kill foreigners.

Journalist Michael Ware, a correspondent for "Time" magazine, has been working on special assignment in Iraq, getting inside the groups who are leading the campaign against coalition forces and the new government the coalition installed.

What he found is an extremist movement that had never before existed in Iraq, but is growing in size, confidence and sophistication there.

On our program today, seeing the insurgency from the inside.

Length: 3:44

TIME: Meet the New Jihad

Monday, July 05, 2004

By MICHAEL WARE / FALLUJAH

The safe house lies on the outskirts of Fallujah in a neighborhood where no Americans have ventured. Inside, a group of Arab sheiks has gathered to discuss the jihad they and their followers are waging against the U.S. The men wear white robes and long beards and greet each other solemnly. They are all Iraqi, but their beliefs are those of the strict Wahhabi strain of Islam repressed under Saddam Hussein. Unlike most Iraqi sitting rooms, this one has no pictures adorning its walls or a television or radio nestled in a corner. Such luxuries are forbidden, just as they were under the Taliban in Afghanistan. At the back of the room are a few men from Saudi Arabia, who stand silently as one of the sheiks, the group's leader, addresses me in Arabic and stilted English. The war in Iraq, he says, is one of liberation, not just of a country but of Muslim lands, Muslim people, Islam itself. There is no room for negotiation with the enemy, no common ground. What he and his men offer is endless, righteous resistance. "Maybe this war will take a long time," he says. "Maybe this is a world war."

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TIME: A Chilling Iraqi Terror Tape

Sunday, July 04, 2004

A new video from jihad leader Zarqawi provides insight into the nature of the fighters — and the fight

By MICHAEL WARE
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Michael Ware

Journalist