Armed with pen, pad on front line [embedded with the enemy]

Boston Globe ^ | 14 Nov 04 | Sa'ad al-Izzi and Thanassis Cambanis

[ganeshpuri89]

Iraqi journalists find little refuge in no man's land

BAGHDAD -- For freelance Iraqi journalist Uthman Mohammed al-Qaisi, the battle for Fallujah climaxed before dawn Wednesday. Hunched beneath an air conditioner in an abandoned house, clutching a dead cellphone, he heard the shouts and shots of US Marines and Iraqi insurgents just yards away.

He was trapped in a no man's land that allowed no safe territory for independent journalists. Most Iraqi journalists had quit Fallujah the week before, when insurgents accused them of spying for the CIA. Qaisi covered the battle from the insurgents' side until he fled to Baghdad on Wednesday, fearing for his life. His harrowing tale offers a glimpse into the mind-set of the Iraqi and foreign mujahideen fighters who ran Fallujah.

Qaisi had spent the better part of the last year in Fallujah, winning the trust of insurgent leaders.

On Monday night, he took shelter in the Hadra al-Mohammadiya mosque, which had been converted into a field hospital for the rebels.

"Everyone was hysterical," he said. "They considered everyone who did not carry a gun a traitor or a spy for the Americans."

Another Iraqi journalist was taken away and rumored to have been killed because he smoked cigarettes during the Ramadan fasting period.

[ganeshpuri89]

Iraqi journalists aren't so smart...

A freelance Iraqi cameraman who had also decided to spend the night at the mosque stood outside filming the clash. Qaisi warned his colleague to hide, but the cameraman did not budge. He was shot and killed in the cross fire.

[marty60]

Mosques. One place for weapons storage, one area for planning, and one area for hospital. so much for holy place. Bomb them.

[TeleStraightShooter]

"Everyone was hysterical," he said. "They considered everyone who did not carry a gun a traitor or a spy for the Americans."

Another Iraqi journalist was taken away and rumored to have been killed because he smoked cigarettes during the Ramadan fasting period.

Hopefully these facts will sink in with seditionist wannabes in Iraq

[TeleStraightShooter]

a Saudi fighter berated all reporters, and then bragged that victory over the Americans was inevitable.
"We will massacre them,"

[weegee]

Media Schadenfreude and Media Shenanigans PING

[Tunehead54]

Bumping with quote from the "embedded" press:

Insurgents used the major mosques as headquarters, with one area set aside to treat the wounded, another to store weapons and ammunition, and a third to plan attacks. At Firdous, wounded insurgents screamed from bullet wounds or phosphorus burns.

---

[JohnCliftn]

An expected slant:

"I felt I was being strangled," Qaisi said. "I was between the American gunfire on one side and the Arab and Iraqi fighters on the other."

Should be Iraqi traitors and Foreign Arab Terrorists

And a surprise

"I thought, this is it, I will die."

He immediately thought of his parents and fiancée, who had abandoned their home in Fallujah months ago for the comparative safety of Baghdad. "I tried to call my family to tell them what happened," he said. "I wanted them to know who owes me money and whom I owe, so that I could die with a clear conscience."

I thought we Americans were supposed to be the materialistic ones.

And stupidity:

At the main highway, Qaisi hitched a ride in a pickup to Baghdad, where he went to meet family members.

Would you give a ride to this terrorist fellow-traveler?