Goin' to Iraq. What do you wanna know from over there?
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Submitted by MikeTharp on Mon, 2008-04-21 12:15. |
Next week I report for a week's training required by McClatchy for reporters headed for Iraq or Afghanistan. A British outfit will put us through our paces in rural Virginia.
Then I'm goin' to Iraq. For about six weeks. Got the dates on April 21: I'll be there May 27 to July 7.
Not sure what I'll be doin' there. Facts on the ground will dictate our coverage. Seems this week a full-blown Shia uprising may be on the horizon. Could be a hot summer.
Ideally, I'd like to embed with Marines for a couple weeks, soldiers for a couple weeks, then help our Baghdad bureau brethren (and sistren) the last couple weeks.
Here's Leila Fadel, our award-winning and intrepid Baghdad bureau chief, on a recent PBS show:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04182008/watch.html
Got a couple names of Mercedians serving there now and will try to contact 'em.
I'd like to hear from you all about what you may want to know from this war. Can't guarantee I'll be able to get you answers, but I do promise to try.
Thanks in advance for your input and suggestions.
After all, it IS your war--you're payin' for it.
Between $2 trillion and $3 trillion--plus three young people from Merced County and their families paid the ultimate price.
So you deserve some answers.
I'll try to get you some.
Iraqi Interests
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Submitted by Will_Rogers on Tue, 2008-04-22 12:28.
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Areas of interest to me.
What is the infrastructure like? Is what we rebuilt being protected and used, or are buildings still vacant and being stripped for salable parts. Are services reliable and widespread in the country, e.g. Water, Sewer and Electricity? If accountability of cash dispersals made to Iraqi AND private contractors are followed up on? The assessment of whether tribal or ethnic divisions co-operate, live together, etc. Have real gains toward political concessions between these groups been made, or just suppressed temporarily? Are the Tent cities for refugees beginning to subside? What are the Market economy signs; of Jobless, Inflation, Goods available, etc., just commerce and life in general.
I'm looking for different signs of what we'd consider the beginnings of normalcy.
Will Rogers' comment
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Submitted by MikeTharp on Tue, 2008-04-22 15:44.
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Thanks, Will, for the compelling list of issues and questions. Can't find a one not worth pursuing, and hopefully my reporting will reveal--or at least suggest--some answers to your queries.
I'm printing your list out to carry in my rucksack so I'm reminded of smart questions to pursue.
mt
Objective?
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Submitted by Reflections on Tue, 2008-04-22 05:34.
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Putting the word "objective" and "reporter" in the same article seems to be a stretch. I have many friends, unfortunately, who are in Iraq; I will stay with them as my sources for information. The reporters are usually embedded in a hotel and wait for the "news" to come to them.
Reply to 'Reflections'
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Submitted by MikeTharp on Tue, 2008-04-22 05:58.
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Thanks for your comment.
I have to do what McClatchy needs doing, of course, since they're my boss.
But based on my 13 months in Vietnam as a soldier and covering wars in the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo, I know you can't find out anything by being "embedded in a hotel." The only embedding I hope to do is with Marines and soldiers.
mt
Goin' to Iraq...What would you like to know?
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Submitted by ryan_daugherty on Mon, 2008-04-21 19:33.
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Well, I want to know the REAL situation on the ground. Not the situation that the biased TV media keeps telling us. Try to talk to Iraqi people, and print everything they say, word for word. Take pictures of our boys giving out MRE's to hungry kids, and playing soccer with them. Take pictures of medical clinics providing treatment to Iraquis free of charge. Take pictures of our boys on humanitarian missions, and the Iraqui reactio to it. Take pictures of the MOsques that Islamic militants have blown up to instigate a civil war between fellow Iraquis. Take pictures of our boys working isde-by-side with Iraqui military and police to secure their cities. That's what I want to see.
Thanks, Ryan,
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Submitted by MikeTharp on Tue, 2008-04-22 06:01.
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...for your comments.
Seems you've got your mind made up about what's going on in Iraq.
That's fine, if you're a U.S. citizen in America, seeking news from a variety of outlets.
It's not fine if you're a reporter, which I am and will be. I can't go over there with preconceived notions, then look for "evidence" to back them up.
Reporters report. That's what I'll do. Fairly, accurately and as completely as I can.
You can judge the truth of what I find by reading the Sun-Star or this Web site or the McClatchy Web site:
Again, thanks for taking the time to comment.
mt
Syndicate
Wishing you good luck
and be careful from your buddies down in LA.