Should I stay or should I go?

Its like my brother said, if its Kuwait City, then go. If it is getting dropped into Baghdad, then don't.
Interestingly, the polling is fairly even. Fourteen say yes, 14 say "are you insane".
Like I said at first. Everything is very light on details. Where I would go, how long I would be there. When it would even be.
My first instinct was to go. I went to New Orleans after Katrina, but before Rita on assignment and I think it was the best work I have done in my career. It also made me hungry to do more, but at the same time, I don't have much desire to die.
I don't know. I'll just have to wait and see how it all develops.

 

I voted yes, but hey it's you and not me.

 

What's it pay (ballpark)?

 

No. This is different than covering any other war. I'm not a total expert on this, but it seems like it is an extremely high risk just getting from the airport in Bagdhad to the Green Zone. There were some attacks in Saigon when US troops were there, but the battle lines seemed drawn a lot more and it would be easier to know where there are safe places.

Also, beginning with Greneda, the military is a lot more restrictive on what can be reported. There is a lot less reported on the ground in Iraq than there was in Viet Nam. If your movements are restricted, both by the military and by the extreme danger, how much are you going to be able to report.

What story would be covered and how would what you report have any effect. In Viet Nam, most people assumed we were there fighting Communism and the world Communist conspiracy. What reporters like Halberstam and Sy Hersh showed was that it was more complicated than that, and that the American people weren't being told the truth about how things were going.

In this war, the opinion lines are pretty well drawn. The information is out there. The people who believe in the war probably aren't going to change their minds, and the people who are opposed to the war probably aren't going to change their minds.

If it was something like Rwanda or Darfur, that would be something that would be news and could be brought to the world's attention.

 

I have a few friends who have gone there and covered the war.

The most recent one was Bob Woodruff.

I voted "no."

 

It's an experience. I did two reporting stints and learned a lot of new things about myself, most of them good. I'm considering a third trip back and though my wife is none too happy about it, she knows it's good for me in terms of keeping fresh and doing a solid job.

So, obviously, I voted "yes."

 

Go. Do you have any idea how many Marriott points you'd rack up?