Nate Thayer

A Live Report From Baghdad: The Road From Baghdad-Nate Thayer

A Live Report From Baghdad

By Nate Thayer

Posted Friday, March 28, 2003, at 11:38 AM ET

The Road From Baghdad

Last night my room at the Palestine, the hotel where journalists are staying in Baghdad, was ripped apart by Iraqi secret police. They found an illegal satellite phone and told me to be out of country by 7 a.m. today. Though I've been ordered out before, they made very clear that this time I would be arrested if I didn't go.

To get out of Baghdad is not easy. Along with Marco DiLauro, an Italian photographer who was also being expelled, I managed to rent a GMC 4-wheel drive. A little after 7 a.m., we set off on the road that leads west toward both Jordan and Syria. We were going to make our decision about which border to head for depending on the military situation we encountered.

In Baghdad, nearly all the men on the streets are armed. But after passing Iraqi military positions on the way out of the city, we saw no Iraqi forces whatsoever. At first, we couldn't tell who was in control of the highway. But less than 50 miles on, we ran into what looked like American forces. We stopped the car and got out, waving white handkerchiefs. We walked 100 yards to a position of what turned out to be Australian special forces, armed with artillery and about a dozen Humvee-type vehicles.

Despite the fact that they surrounded us, making us get down on our hands and knees as they searched us, we were delighted to see them. Once the Australians determined we were friendly, they were happy to see us too—and interested in how little military presence we'd seen exiting Baghdad. Then they sent us on our way toward Jordan.

The desert road was surreal, littered with the carcasses of dozens of burnt-out vehicles, including Iraqi armored personnel carriers with incinerated bodies inside. We saw ruined bridges and what looked like the skeleton of a Syrian tourist bus. Red Crescent vehicles passed in the other direction, ferrying medical supplies toward Baghdad. At one point a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter bore hovered above, but it left us alone after making out the letters "TV," which we'd applied to the roof of our truck with black duct tape.

For 350 miles, we saw no Iraqi military presence at all. But at the border, Saddam loyalists were still in control of the Iraqi side—200 feet from our nominal allies the Jordanians. Customs officials elaborately searched our bags and stamped our passports. They checked to see that the serial numbers on our computers matched those indicated on our entry documents—as if we were leaving some normal country.

City of Grief and Rage- By Nate Thayer, SLATE.COM

March 24, 2003

The following article by an American journalist still in  Baghdad
gives a bit different take on things than the TV coverage.  He
reports a great deal of anger against the Americans, rather than
people jumping up and down looking for liberation.

His account may well be biased -- we have no way of knowing.
But here's a what if.  What if when the Coalition finishes off the
regime they are stuck with a nation of angry and highly resentful
people?  What then?

http://www.msnbc.com/news/889982_asp.htm?0cv=CB10

City of Grief and Rage
By Nate Thayer, SLATE.COM

March 24, 2003

Today, for the first time, the bombs fell and the missiles struck in
daylight. The assault lasted all day. And it came not only from
long-range missiles but from coalition planes that are flying over our
heads and dropping their payloads in the neighborhood of the Palestine
Hotel, where most of the foreign journalists remaining in Baghdad are
staying.

TODAY IS ALSO the first time that I am truly frightened. It is not the
American bombs I am primarily afraid of. What frightens me and Mary -
the name I'll give a photographer with whom I've become inseparable -
is the mood of the people. The city is thick with anger and defiance,
and we are Americans.
Every day since Mary and I arrived by road from Jordan, we have been
threatened with expulsion. This morning, once again, we were ordered
out. "You have two choices-you can be a human shield or you can leave
the country," said my government minder. He offered this without his
usual smarmy smile.

"But what about my visa?" I asked.

"Your visa is now to heaven," he said, forcing a laugh.

BOMBS AND BLOOD TESTS
I talked my way out of it once again. My minder said we could obtain
visa "extensions" provided we take HIV tests. I brought my own
syringes, and I swabbed Mary's arm and extracted a vial of blood in my
room. She did the same for me. We then went to the so-called HIV
center together, with bombs dropping around us, to submit our blood to
the Iraqi government. Of course, they insisted on taking their own
samples. Cruise missiles launched 900 miles away exploded around us,
incinerating government buildings as we partook in this ridiculous
charade.

This absurdity over, we returned to the Palestine, where we are as
prepared as we can be for whatever may come next. We have 300 bottles
of the water and have filled the bathtubs in each of several rooms for
reserve. We've stockpiled enough food for weeks. Should the power
fail, we have a generator and jerry cans filled with petrol purchased
on the black market. If a bomb blows out our window, the duct tape
we've covered it with should protect us from flying glass. All of our
electronics-computers, cameras, communications devices-are wrapped in
aluminum foil against so-called e-bombs that will destroy all the data
of electronic devices.

A SEARCH FOR AIRMEN
At 4 p.m. Baghdad time, an American fighter jet dropped its payload so
close that the concussion sucked the air out of our lungs. Mary and I
got in our car and drove toward the site of the explosion.

As we crossed one of the four Tigris bridges, there was an enormous
traffic jam. Hundreds of armed men and civilians were looking down to
the river below. Scores of cars had stopped in the middle of the
bridge. We grabbed our gear and got out.

The rumor was that an allied plane had been shot down. Word spread
through the crowd that two pilots had parachuted from the downed plane
and were floating down the river. One had supposedly already been
captured. Whether there were any pilots in the river, I don't know.

Small boats with heavily armed soldiers searched among the reeds. From
the banks, people took pot shots at objects in the river. Under the
impression that the airman had been captured, thousands of cheering
Iraqis chanted and clapped, shooting AK-47s in the air for joy. People
in both uniform and civilian clothes eyed us with hostility during
this celebration.

"Where are you from?" demanded an armed Iraqi, looking at me.

"Germany," interjected my government guide, abruptly grabbing me by
the arm and yanking me away.

"Do not tell them you are American," he whispered as he rushed me to
the car. "We must leave. It is very dangerous here."

ROAD TO BABYLON
Then we were on the western side of the Tigris, where the coalition
bombardment has struck hardest. The sounds of imams on speakers
reverberated through the streets-calls for the people to kill all the
Americans. We raced through Baghdad's most dangerous area, passing
Saddam's palaces, now piles of burnt rubble. The Foreign Ministry was
a concrete shell with no windows and only sullen soldiers at the
entrance. Apartment buildings recently filled with civilians were
charred, burnt, collapsed, and empty. Hundreds of apartments and no
people-where did they all go? Western medical sources have reported
some 300 civilian injuries in Baghdad but very few killed.

The Iraqi military had now closed all the Tigris River bridges. Mary
and I were stuck. We had to drive north for an hour as bombs continued
dropping around us. "This is the road to Babylon," said our government
minder. It felt like Babylon. We then took another road-the road to
Kuwait, our guide said. We had to drive north of the city, then west,
and then south to enter Baghdad on the east bank of the Tigris and
return to our hotel.

Explosions are rocking my computer as I write. For the first time,
small-arms fire can be heard throughout the city. Anti-aircraft
emplacements are set up around the perimeter of our hotel. It's not a
good sign. Yesterday those 500 meters from us were destroyed,
completely destroyed, by American missiles.

Nate Thayer is covering the war for Slate.

Nate Thayer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nate Thayer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Nate Thayer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nate Thayer (born April 21, 1960) is a journalist who interviewed Pol Pot. He was the Cambodia correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, a respected investigative publication that published from 1946 to 2009. His journalism has focused on international organized crime, narcotics trafficking, human rights, and areas of military conflict.

Nate Thayer discussing Pol Pot's trial, July 1997.

Contents  [hide]  1 Publications, honors and awards 2 Career 2.1 Thayer at Pol Pot's Trial 2.2 Nightline controversy 2.3 Interview with Pol Pot 2.4 Thayer and the death of Pol Pot 2.5 Interview with Kang Kek Iew 2.6 Subsequent work 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Publications, honors and awards

Thayer has written for Jane's Defence Weekly, Soldier of Fortune, The Associated Press and for more than 40 other publications, including The Cambodia Daily and The Phnom Penh Post. Thayer’s reporting earned him The World Press Award, the 1997 “Scoop of the Year” British press award, and the 1998 Francis Frost Wood Award for Courage in Journalism, given by Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York to a journalist "judged to best exemplify physical or moral courage in the practice of his or her craft."^[1] He was a visiting scholar at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University^[2] as well as the first recipient of the Center for Public Integrity's ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting in November, 1998.^[3] Upon awarding Thayer the ICIJ Award, the judges noted:

"He illuminated a page of history that would have been lost to the world had he not spent years in the Cambodian jungle, in a truly extraordinary quest for first-hand knowledge of the Khmer Rouge and their murderous leader. His investigations of the Cambodian political world required not only great risk and physical hardship but also mastery of an ever-changing cast of factional characters."^[4]

According to Vaudine England of the BBC, "Many of the region's greatest names in reporting made their mark in the pages of the Review, from the legendary Richard Hughes of Korean War fame, to Nate Thayer, the journalist who found Cambodia's Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot."^[5]

Thayer was also the first person in 57 years to turn down a prestigious Peabody Award, because he did not want to share it with ABC News' Nightline whom he believed stole his story and deprived him and the Far Eastern Economic Review of income.^[6][7]

Since 1999 Hofstra University's Department of Journalism and Mass Media Studies in the School of Communication has awarded the Nate Thayer Scholarship to a qualified student with the best foreign story idea. Winners are selected on the basis of scholastic achievement or potential as well as economic need.^[8]

[edit] Career

Thayer was born in 1960^[9] in Massachusetts, the son of Harry E. T. Thayer who was United States Ambassador to Singapore from 1980 to 1985. He studied at the University of Massachusetts Boston. From 1980 to 1982 he was involved with the Boston-based Clamshell Alliance, acting as spokesman during protest events at the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant^{[10][11][12][13]} as well as anti-draft protests.^[14]

He began his career in Southeast Asia on the Thai-Cambodian border, taking part in an academic research project in which he interviewed 50 Cham survivors of Khmer Rouge atrocities at Nong Samet Refugee Camp in 1984.^[15][16] He then returned to Massachusetts where he worked briefly as the Transportation Director for the state Office of Handicapped Affairs.^[17][18] Thayer himself noted, "I got fired. I was a really bad bureaucrat."^[19]

He later worked for Soldier of Fortune Magazine reporting on guerrilla combat in Burma,^[20] and in 1989 he began reporting for the Associated Press from the Thai-Cambodian border.^[21] In October 1989 he was nearly killed when an anti-tank mine exploded under a truck he was riding in.^[22] In 1991 he moved to Cambodia where he began writing for the Far Eastern Economic Review.^[23][24]

In August 1992 Thayer traveled to Mondulkiri Province and visited the last of the FULRO Montagnard guerrillas who had remained loyal to their former American commanders.^[25] Thayer informed the group that FULRO's president Y Bham Enuol had been executed by the Khmer Rouge seventeen years previously.^[26] The FULRO troops surrendered their weapons in October 1992; many of this group were given asylum in the United States.^[27][28]

In April 1994 Thayer participated in (and funded) the Cambodian Kouprey Research Project, a $30,000, two-week, 150 km field survey to find the rare Cambodian bovine known as the kouprey.^[29] Thayer later wrote: "After compiling a team of expert jungle trackers, scientists, security troops, elephant mahouts and one of the most motley and ridiculous looking groups of armed journalists in recent memory, we marched cluelessly into Khmer Rouge-controlled jungles along the old Ho Chi Minh trail."^[30]

On July 3, 1994 Thayer was asked help negotiate Prince Norodom Chakrapong's release and safe passage to the airport after the prince had been accused by Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh of plotting a coup d'etat.^[31][32] Thayer was subsequently expelled from Cambodia by Prince Ranariddh, but he returned anyway.^[33]

In early 1997 he was again expelled from Cambodia for exposing connections between Prime Minister Hun Sen and heroin traffickers.^[34][35] Thayer then decided to pursue a fellowship at Johns Hopkins University.

[edit] Thayer at Pol Pot's Trial

Pol Pot´s trial, reported by Nate Thayer, August 2, 1997

Nate Thayer became world famous in July 1997 when he and Asiaworks Television cameraman David McKaige managed to visit the Anlong Veng Khmer Rouge jungle camp inside Cambodia where Pol Pot was being tried for treason.^[36] Thayer had hoped for an interview but was disappointed:

"Pol Pot said nothing. They made it clear and I believed them, that I was to interview Pol Pot after the trial. Pol Pot literally had to be carried away from the trial--he was unable to walk--and I was not able to talk to him. I did try to talk to him... he did not answer any questions, and he did not speak during the trial.^[37]"

Thayer noted, "Every ounce of his being was struggling to maintain some last vestige of dignity."^[38]

Thayer believed that the trial had been staged by the Khmer Rouge for him and McKaige:

"It was put on specifically for us, to take the message to the world that Pol Pot has been denounced. They had reported on their radio, on June 19, that Pol Pot had been purged. No one believed them. After five years of lying over their radio, there was no reason anyone should take what they say credibly. It was clear to them that they needed an independent, credible witness to show what was happening."^[39]

[edit] Nightline controversy

According to Thayer, Ted Koppel of ABC News made a verbal agreement with Thayer to use footage from the trial on Nightline, then violated that agreement:^[40]

"[Koppel] returned home with a copy of my videotape. I gave it to him in exchange for his strict promise that its only use would be on Nightline. However, once he had the copy of the tape, ABC News released video, still pictures, and even transcripts of my interviews to news organizations throughout the world. Protected by its formidable legal and public relations department, ABC News made still photographs from the video, slapped the “ABC News Exclusive” logo on them, and hand delivered them to newspapers, wire services, and television...All of these pictures demanded that photo credit be given to ABC News... The story won a British Press Award for “Scoop of the Year” for a British paper I didn’t even know had published it...I even won a Peabody Award as a “correspondent for Nightline." But I turned it down—-the first time anyone had rejected a Peabody in its 57-year history."^[41]

ABC News responded that they had "agreed to pay Nate Thayer the sizable sum of $350,000 for the rights to use his footage of former Cambodian dictator Pol Pot. Despite the fact that ABC provided prominent and repeated credit and generous remuneration for his work, Mr. Thayer initiated a five-year barrage of complaints coupled with repeated demands for more money."^[42] In 2002 Thayer sued Koppel and ABC News for $30 million in punitive damages and unspecified compensatory damages.

[edit] Interview with Pol Pot

In October 1997, Thayer returned to Anlong Veng and became only the second western journalist (after Elizabeth Becker in 1978) ever to be granted an interview with the former dictator^[43][44] and, along with McKaige, was certainly the last outsider to see him alive.^[45] Thayer recounted the story of his interview with Pol Pot in his book Sympathy for the Devil: Living Dangerously in Cambodia - A Foreign Correspondent's Story.^[46] Pol Pot told Thayer:

"First, I want to let you know that I came to join the revolution, not to kill the Cambodian people. Look at me now. Do you think ... am I a violent person? No. So, as far as my conscience and my mission were concerned, there was no problem. This needs to be clarified...My experience was the same as that of my movement. We were new and inexperienced and events kept occurring one after the other which we had to deal with. In doing that, we made mistakes as I told you. I admit it now and I admitted it in the notes I have written. Whoever wishes to blame or attack me is entitled to do so. I regret I didn't have enough experience to totally control the movement. On the other hand, with our constant struggle, this had to be done together with others in the communist world to stop Kampuchea becoming Vietnamese. For the love of the nation and the people it was the right thing to do but in the course of our actions we made mistakes.^[47]"

[edit] Thayer and the death of Pol Pot

Thayer visited Anlong Veng again on April 16, 1998, only a day after Pol Pot had died. After photographing the corpse he briefly interviewed Ta Mok and Pol Pot's second wife Muon, who told Thayer, "What I would like the world to know is that he was a good man, a patriot, a good father."^[48] Thayer was then asked to transport Pol Pot's body in his pickup truck to the site a short distance away^[49] where it was later cremated.^[50]

[edit] Interview with Kang Kek Iew

In April 1999 Thayer, alongside photojournalist Nic Dunlop, interviewed Kang Kek Iew (Comrade Duch) for the Far Eastern Economic Review after Dunlop had tracked Duch to Samlaut and suspected strongly that he was the former director of the notorious S-21 security prison.^[51] Dunlop wanted Duch to provide clues that would reveal his identity, and Thayer began probing Duch's story that he was Hang Pin, an aid worker and a born-again Christian:

"Then Nate said, 'I believe that you also worked with the security services during the Khmer Rouge Period?' Duch appeared startled and avoided our eyes...Again Nate put the question to him...He looked unsettled and his eyes darted about...He then glanced at Nate's business card...'I believe, Nic, that your friend has interviewed Monsieur Ta Mok and Monsieur Pol Pot?'...He sat back down...and inhaled deeply. 'It is God's will that you are here,' he said."^[52]

Duch surrendered to the authorities in Phnom Penh following the publication of this interview.^[53][54] Dunlop and Thayer were first runners-up for the 1999 SAIS-Novartis Prize for Excellence in International Journalism, presented by the The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, for "exposing the inside story of the Khmer Rouge killing machine."^[55]

[edit] Subsequent work

Nate Thayer has also covered Albania,^[56] Indonesia,^[57] Mongolia^[58] and the Philippines.^[59] In 2003 he reported on the Iraq War in a five-part series for Slate Magazine.^{[60][61][62][63][64]} He also covered the Bangkok 2010 Redshirt riots.^[65][66] He has recently worked for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' Center for Public Integrity writing a three month investigation on North Korea as a rogue state financed by criminal activity.^[67]

[edit] References

1. ^ "Hofstra forms journalism award selection committee." Long Island Business News, 04/06/98, Vol. 45 Issue 14, p. 19.
2. ^ Dale Keiger, "In Search of Brother Number One," Johns Hopkins Magazine, November 1997
3. ^ ICIJ Journalists: Nate Thayer
4. ^ Maud S. Beelman, "Reporting Across Borders," The Public i: Newsletter of the Center for Public Integrity, Vol 7, no. 2, Mar 1999.
5. ^ Vaudine England, "Leading Asian Magazine to Close," BBC Asia-Pacific News, September 22, 2009.
6. ^ "Your scoop? Nah. It's ours if we want it." The Independent, May 25 1998.
7. ^ Richard Linnett and Wayne Friedman, "Marketing the News: The Selling of Pol Pot," Advertising Age, 11/18/2002, Vol. 73, Issue 46.
8. ^ Hofstra University Student Information Package, Financial Aid Section, p. 45.
9. ^ Philip Gourevitch, The Talk of the Town, “Ink,” The New Yorker, August 18, 1997, p. 25.
10. ^ Randy Shipp, "Antinuclear coalition set for fresh assault on Seabrook," The Christian Science Monitor, May 22, 1980, p. 7.
11. ^ Michael Knight, "1,500 Repulsed at Seabrook Trying to Take Nuclear Site; Two Officers Injured On Easy Ground," New York Times, May 25, 1980, p. 22.
12. ^ "Clamshell Plan to Protest Reactor Move to Seabrook," Boston Globe, Feb 18, 1981, p. 1
13. ^ "250 Protest at Seabrook Nuclear Site," The Harvard Crimson, Wednesday, March 04, 1981.
14. ^ Edward Quill and Richard H. Stewart, "Draft Foes Partly Padlock Post Office," Boston Globe, Jul 23, 1980, p. 1.
15. ^ Ben Kiernan, "Orphans of Genocide: the Cham Muslims of Kampuchea Under Pol Pot," Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, Volume 20, Issue 4, 1988, p. 2.
16. ^ Ben Kiernan, The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-79. New Haven: Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0300144345, 1996, p. 264.
17. ^ Frances Robles, "Many Who Depend on The Ride Say They Can't," Boston Globe, Aug 21, 1988 p. 33, Metro Section.
18. ^ Joe Ferson, "Handicapped Criticize MBTA on Van Service: Frequent Delays, Faulty Equipment Cited." Boston Globe, Sep 16, 1988, p. 82.
19. ^ Nate Thayer, "Finding Pol Pot: Nate Thayer's Story-Behind-the-Story." The Public i: Newsletter of the Center for Public Integrity, Vol 7, no. 2, Mar 1999.
20. ^ Thayer, "Finding Pol Pot," 1999.
21. ^ Nate Thayer, "Aid Workers Flee as Cambodia Fighting Intensifies," The Associated Press, 13 September 1989.
22. ^ "U.S. Reporter Injured, One Killed by Mine in Cambodia," 16 October 1989, Reuters.
23. ^ Nate Thayer, "Rubies are Rouge." Far Eastern Economic Review, Feb 7 1991, pp. 29-30.
24. ^ Andrew Sherry, "Nate Thayer vs. Pol Pot," April 5, 2005
25. ^ Nate Thayer, “Montagnard Army Seeks UN Help,” Phnom Penh Post, Sept. 12, 1992.
26. ^ Nate Thayer, "Forgotten Army: The Rebels Time Forgot," Far Eastern Economic Review, Sept 10, 1992, pp. 16-22.
27. ^ Nate Thayer and Leo Dobbs, “Tribal Fighters Head for Refuge in USA,” Phnom Penh Post, October 23 1992.
28. ^ Nate Thayer, "Trail of tears: 'Lost' Montagnard Army Vows to Fight On," Far Eastern Economic Review, Sept 10 1992, pp. 18-22.
29. ^ "Search for the kouprey: trail runs cold for Cambodia’s national animal". Phnom Penh Post, April 2006.
30. ^ Nate Thayer, "Motley crew moves out on jungle mission impossible," Phnom Penh Post, April 22, 1994.
31. ^ Nate Thayer, "Frantic calls from Regent's Rm 406," Phnom Penh Post, National News, 15 Jul 1994.
32. ^ Nate Thayer, "As It happened..." Far Eastern Economic Review, July 14, 1994, pp. 15-16.
33. ^ Philip Gourevitch, "Guns 'N Deadlines," HQ Magazine, Nov/Dec 1997, pp. 116-119.
34. ^ Nate Thayer, "Narco-nexus." Far Eastern Economic Review, April 24 1997, Vol. 160 Issue 17, p. 20.
35. ^ Nate Thayer, “Drug Suspects Bankroll Cambodian Coup Leader,” Washington Post, July 22, 1997.
36. ^ Nate Thayer, “Pol Pot, I Presume,”. Wall Street Journal, August 1, 1997.
37. ^ *"Cambodia: Trial of Pol Pot," interview with Gareth Evans and Tep Kunnal.
38. ^ Philip Gourevitch, The Talk of the Town, “Ink,” The New Yorker, August 18, 1997, p. 25.
39. ^ Keiger, 1997.
40. ^ Kelly Heyboer, "A Journalistic Coup Turns Sour," American Journalism Review, September 1997, pp. 10-11.
41. ^ Nate Thayer, "Freelancers’ Vital Role in International Reporting With the rise of media conglomerates, foreign news has been shoved aside." Nieman Reports, Dec 2001.
42. ^ Jeffrey Schneider, VP, ABC News, quoted in Richard Linnett and Wayne Friedman, "Marketing the news: the selling of Pol Pot." Advertising Age, 11/18/2002, Vol. 73, Issue 46; Section: Briefs.
43. ^ Nate Thayer, "Dying Breath The inside story of Pol Pot's last days and the disintegration of the movement he created," Far Eastern Economic Review, April 30, 1998
44. ^ Becker E. When the War was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution. 1st PublicAffairs ed. New York: PublicAffairs, 1998, ISBN 978-1891620003, p. 516.
45. ^ Nate Thayer, "Finding Pol Pot: Nate Thayer's Story-Behind-the-Story." The Public i: Newsletter of the Center for Public Integrity, Vol 7, no. 2, Mar 1999.
46. ^ Nate Thayer, Sympathy for the Devil: Living Dangerously in Cambodia - A Foreign Correspondent's Story. Penguin Putnam Inc., New York 1999, ISBN 978-0670885763
47. ^ Nate Thayer, "Day of Reckoning." Far Eastern Economic Review, 30 October 1997: pp. 14-20.
48. ^ Thayer, "Dying Breath," April 30, 1998.
49. ^ Gordon Sharpless "Anlong Veng: Normalcy returns to the former Khmer Rouge stronghold," Tales of Asia, July 2000
50. ^ Nury Vittachi, "A brief history of FEER," October 1, 2009.
51. ^ Nic Dunlop, The Lost Executioner: A Journey to the Heart of the Killing Fields. New York: Walker & Company, 2006.
52. ^ Dunlop, 2006, pp. 271-72.
53. ^ Stan Alcorn, "Photography in the Killing Fields," DART Center for Journalism and Trauma, March 2008.
54. ^ Nic Dunlop and Nate Thayer, "Duch Confesses," Far Eastern Economic Review, May 6, 1999; vol 170, no. 3:, p. 76.
55. ^ "Associated Press Team Wins ’99 SAIS-Novartis Prize," SAIS Reports, Johns Hopkins University, April/May 2000, p. 2.
56. ^ S. Jayasankaran, Nate Thayer, "From Logs to Lotus," Far Eastern Economic Review, 12 December 1996, cover story.
57. ^ Syamsul Indrapatra, Nate Thayer, Bertil Lintner, John McBeth, "Worse to come," Far Eastern Economic Review, 162.30 (Jul 29, 1999): 16-18.
58. ^ Nate Thayer, “Forward Steppes,” Far Eastern Economic Review, March 27, 1997, p. 20.
59. ^ Rigoberto Tiglao, Andrew Sherry, Nate Thayer, Michael Vatikoitis, "'Tis the season," Far Eastern Economic Review, 161:52, Dec 24, 1998: 18-20.
60. ^ Nate Thayer, "Live From Baghdad," Slate, March 19, 2003
61. ^ Nate Thayer, "The Bombing of Baghdad," Slate, March 22, 2003
62. ^ Nate Thayer, "Baghdad Gets Scarier," Slate, March 24, 2003
63. ^ Nate Thayer, "More American Bombs, and More Iraqi Defiance," Slate, March 24, 2003
64. ^ Nate Thayer, "The Road From Baghdad," Slate, March 28, 2003
65. ^ "Thai crisis : CTV News Channel: Nate Thayer in Bangkok."
66. ^ Michael Sheridan and Nate Thayer, "Vengeful redshirts threaten tourism: The Thai protest has spawned an underground militant wing in Bangkok," The Sunday Times, May 23, 2010
67. ^ Nate Thayer, profile

[edit] External links

• "Journalist Nate Thayer was on the scene in Cambodia recently when Pol Pot, the leader of the guerrilla force, the Khmer Rouge, was sentenced to life imprisonment in a show trial," NPR Interview, August 7, 1997
• "Continuing Unrest," PBS Interview with Sydney Schanberg and Nate Thayer, June 18, 1997.
• "Cambodia: Trial of Pol Pot," interview with Gareth Evans and Tep Kunnal.
• "Your scoop? Nah. It's ours if we want it," The Independent, 25 May 1998
• "Killing Fields Leader 'killed himself'," BBC News, January 21, 1999
• "70's Torturer in Cambodia Now 'Doing God's Work'," The New York Times, May 2, 1999
• "Former Khmer Rouge leader arrested," The New York Times, Sept 19, 2007
• "Alternative Wasn't There For Hun Sen," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan 5, 1999
• Nate Thayer, "Dying Breath: The inside story of Pol Pot's last days and the disintegration of the movement he created," Far Eastern Economic Review, April 30, 1998
• Nate Thayer, "The Road From Baghdad," Slate, March 28, 2003
• Nate Thayer's Interview with Pol Pot on YouTube, Part 1
• Nate Thayer's Interview with Pol Pot on YouTube, Part 2
• Dirck Halstead, "Rewind: Wars and Memories (PART I)" October 17, 1997
• "Educating Nate Thayer by Al Rockoff and Project Pineapple," June 9, 2010
• Andrew Drummond, "The Rebel Who Caught Pol Pot," The Times, July 30, 1997.

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Babysitting the Press in Kuwait: A PAO's work is never done.

The Weekly Standard The Magazine Babysitting the Press in Kuwait A PAO's work is never done. Apr 7, 2003 By Matt Labash         Kuwait City IT IS EASY and fashionable to ridicule journalists. They can be loutish and rude, obsequious and mercenary. Their careers are made off of others' misfortune, and they're forever thrusting themselves forward just to bring you the bad news. According to media-bashing stereotypes, they are chiselers and corner-cutters, spitball artists and confidence men. But I will say one thing for the species--and here, I don't count myself among them--they are, almost to the man and woman, some of the ballsiest people I know. Some 500 of my colleagues have literally gone into combat by embedding with troops. Scores of others have made suicide runs into Iraq without the benefit of being escorted by M-16-toting Marines. What many lack in brains, they make up for in balls. They are guys like Slate's Nate Thayer, who is camped out in Baghdad, and more willing to become a human shield than a journalistic deserter. They are guys like Newsweek's Scott Johnson, who just flipped his truck in the desert after having it riddled with bullets, barely escaping with his life. They might not do these things for the lofty, noble purposes of duty, honor, and country. But they do them--often for no other reason than that they're there to be done. The counterpart to the war reporter is the military public affairs officer. They too suffer sometimes unfair stereotypes--many of them perpetuated by journalists. We often cast them as neutered soldiers and company men--the friends of bureaucracy and obstructionism, the enemies of access and truth. But Major Chris Hughes, a Marine public affairs officer, is not one of these. The Magazine Babysitting the Press in Kuwait A PAO's work is never done. Apr 7, 2003, Vol. 8, No. 29 • By MATT LABASH Single Page Print Larger Text Smaller Text Alerts         Kuwait City IT IS EASY and fashionable to ridicule journalists. They can be loutish and rude, obsequious and mercenary. Their careers are made off of others' misfortune, and they're forever thrusting themselves forward just to bring you the bad news. According to media-bashing stereotypes, they are chiselers and corner-cutters, spitball artists and confidence men. But I will say one thing for the species--and here, I don't count myself among them--they are, almost to the man and woman, some of the ballsiest people I know. Some 500 of my colleagues have literally gone into combat by embedding with troops. Scores of others have made suicide runs into Iraq without the benefit of being escorted by M-16-toting Marines. What many lack in brains, they make up for in balls. They are guys like Slate's Nate Thayer, who is camped out in Baghdad, and more willing to become a human shield than a journalistic deserter. They are guys like Newsweek's Scott Johnson, who just flipped his truck in the desert after having it riddled with bullets, barely escaping with his life. They might not do these things for the lofty, noble purposes of duty, honor, and country. But they do them--often for no other reason than that they're there to be done. The counterpart to the war reporter is the military public affairs officer. They too suffer sometimes unfair stereotypes--many of them perpetuated by journalists. We often cast them as neutered soldiers and company men--the friends of bureaucracy and obstructionism, the enemies of access and truth. But Major Chris Hughes, a Marine public affairs officer, is not one of these. More by Matt Labash The Kids Are Alright Semper Fly Weekend Reading Assignments: Superhuman Runners, ... Miami Vice ‘The Mad Dog of the Middle East’ Hughes works the graveyard shift at the Coalition Press Information Center here at the Kuwait City Hilton. (It's actually the day shift back home, on account of the time difference.) My advance men in Kuwait told me to get to know him, and to become his fluffer--that he was a gregarious sort you could do business with, which is necessary for unembedded reporters, since what stands between us and any military access is the often uncooperative figure of the public affairs officer. When I initially called him, we set up an appointment for midnight, which he had to move to 1:00, then 2:00 A.M. Still overwhelmed with calls at the appointed time, he kicked our interview to 5:00 A.M., which he then moved back once more until he knocked off at 8:00 in the morning. I initially tried to sweeten the pot, offering to bring over some special-recipe "Listerine." But he declined politely. "Can't do it," he said. "There's a war on, man." When I met up with him outside the press desk at the end of his normal 12-16 hour shift, he was bleary-eyed and haggard. The night shift, he says, is "kind of a self-inflicted wound. Bad things happen at night. And last night was a bummer." Indeed, it was. After this conflict is over, historians will debate its various turning points. But Sunday, March 23, will be known as the day the war became realer and darker--when bad things happened to good people. A British RAF Tornado had been accidentally blown out of the sky by a U.S. Patriot missile. An attempted fragging incident at the 101st Airborne Division's camp in northern Kuwait left one soldier dead and 16 injured. Throughout southern Iraq, soldiers and Marines were getting chewed up by non-uniformed militia types after towns had supposedly been taken. Dead Americans began showing up on Al-Jazeera, their bodies set out like grocery window displays. Unembedded journalists, cowboying around hostile territory without military protection, were being felled. Three ITV news crew members were missing and presumed dead after coming under fire in southern Iraq. And in the north, an Australian television cameraman was the victim of a car bomb. After spending all night discussing these horrors, Hughes makes his way with me to the incongruous Songbird Café, where pretty Filipina waitresses offer salmon on focaccia to anyone who still has an appetite. Hughes doesn't. He sticks with the Diet Coke he brought himself. He's much more interested in sleeping than eating. Looks-wise, Hughes is all Marine, squared off and squinty, a young James Caan whose eyes slant upward from their outside corners in, forming quotation marks around his expressions. He has worked numerous media operations in some pretty hairy settings--places like East Timor and Afghanistan. And it never ceases to amaze him the cavalier attitude journalists often bring to war. "With the old guys and gals," says the 37-year-old Hughes, "they know the deal. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't. With the work-up for the whole embed [of which he was a big champion], the mentality was kind of 'We're going camping.' No you're not. You're going to war. People will die."

SAS close in on capital

Sydney Morning Herald

SAS close in on capital March 31 2003 Members of Australia's SAS unit were on the front line with many fast-moving vehicles close to Baghdad, a US journalist said today. Correspondent Nate Thayer said the Australians detained him and his colleagues after he was expelled from Baghdad before letting them continue. Mr Thayer said the Australians were calm, in control and close to the Iraqi capital. "They detained me at gunpoint and the others that were accompanying me, ordered us on the ground, determined who we were and debriefed us," Mr Thayer told Sky News from Jordan. "They were very close to Baghdad." Mr Thayer said he promised Australia's elite soldiers he would not reveal their exact location. But he said driving out of Baghdad, the Australians were the first military personnel of any significance he encountered. "They were very professional, they were fully equipped, they were very mobile ... they were in control of the major highway outside Baghdad city," Mr Thayer said. "They had many vehicles, they were fast-moving vehicles, they were clearly at the very front line of reconnaissance. "They were calm, there was no fear in any of their eyes, they were in control. Their morale was very good." Mr Thayer said he and his colleagues were treated well by the Australians before being allowed to continue their journey. AAP

A Live Report From Baghdad: The Road From Baghdad

A Live Report From Baghdad

The Road From Baghdad

By Nate Thayer
Posted Friday, March 28, 2003, at 2:38 PM ET

Nate Thayer is covering the war in Iraq for Slate.

Last night my room at the Palestine, the hotel where journalists are staying in Baghdad, was ripped apart by Iraqi secret police. They found an illegal satellite phone and told me to be out of country by 7 a.m. today. Though I've been ordered out before, they made very clear that this time I would be arrested if I didn't go.

To get out of Baghdad is not easy. Along with Marco DiLauro, an Italian photographer who was also being expelled, I managed to rent a GMC 4-wheel drive. A little after 7 a.m., we set off on the road that leads west toward both Jordan and Syria. We were going to make our decision about which border to head for depending on the military situation we encountered.

In Baghdad, nearly all the men on the streets are armed. But after passing Iraqi military positions on the way out of the city, we saw no Iraqi forces whatsoever. At first, we couldn't tell who was in control of the highway. But less than 50 miles on, we ran into what looked like American forces. We stopped the car and got out, waving white handkerchiefs. We walked 100 yards to a position of what turned out to be Australian special forces, armed with artillery and about a dozen Humvee-type vehicles.

Despite the fact that they surrounded us, making us get down on our hands and knees as they searched us, we were delighted to see them. Once the Australians determined we were friendly, they were happy to see us too—and interested in how little military presence we'd seen exiting Baghdad. Then they sent us on our way toward Jordan.

The desert road was surreal, littered with the carcasses of dozens of burnt-out vehicles, including Iraqi armored personnel carriers with incinerated bodies inside. We saw ruined bridges and what looked like the skeleton of a Syrian tourist bus. Red Crescent vehicles passed in the other direction, ferrying medical supplies toward Baghdad. At one point a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter bore hovered above, but it left us alone after making out the letters "TV," which we'd applied to the roof of our truck with black duct tape.

For 350 miles, we saw no Iraqi military presence at all. But at the border, Saddam loyalists were still in control of the Iraqi side—200 feet from our nominal allies the Jordanians. Customs officials elaborately searched our bags and stamped our passports. They checked to see that the serial numbers on our computers matched those indicated on our entry documents—as if we were leaving some normal country.

A Live Report From Baghdad: More American Bombs, and More Iraqi Defiance

 

A Live Report From Baghdad

More American Bombs, and More Iraqi Defiance

By Nate Thayer
Posted Monday, March 24, 2003, at 6:18 PM ET

Nate Thayer is covering the war in Iraq for Slate.

BAGHDAD, Tuesday morning, 12:30 a.m.—This morning, hundreds of Iraqis filled the lobby of the Palestine Hotel to watch the broadcast of Saddam Hussein's speech. Their mood was defiant. They clapped and cheered as Saddam rallied them to war. "Americans have bombed civilian areas," Saddam said, according to my translator. "They are trying to weaken us, but they are stupid. They will never win."

Iraqi TV rejoiced over yesterday's battles. All day long, it broadcast the interrogation of the captured American soldiers. Rumors spread through the capital about two British pilots captured in Baghdad, but they haven't been seen on TV.

The atmosphere on the street gets more and more menacing every day. There are groups of people chanting anti-American slogans. The military presence has increased dramatically. Outposts and bunkers are on every corner. Roadblocks are set up on all the main streets. The oil trenches ignited over the weekend continue to burn—casting a literal black cloud over the city. Iraqis assume that American forces will encircle Baghdad, and they are preparing for a siege.

Tonight's bombing started just over an hour ago, following another day of intense raids. We could see fighter planes today. Tomahawk strikes, by now almost routine, took out city buildings. We also heard that B-52s were bombing the outskirts of the city.

I'm too distracted to follow tonight's assault very carefully. Iraqi officials are continuing to harass us. I was just told that we will be expelled first thing in the morning. They said we will have to drive to Syria—a 20-hour ride on a highway that we've heard is under bombardment from the coalition. It's a suicide drive, and I am not going to do it. I have about six hours to figure out how to get out of it.

A Live Report From Baghdad: Baghdad Gets Scarier

A Live Report From Baghdad

Baghdad Gets Scarier

By Nate Thayer
Posted Monday, March 24, 2003, at 1:18 AM ET

Nate Thayer is covering the war in Iraq for Slate.

BAGHDAD, Sunday evening—Today, for the first time, the bombs fell and the missiles struck in daylight. The assault lasted all day. And it came not only from long-range missiles but from coalition planes that are flying over our heads and dropping their payloads in the neighborhood of the Palestine Hotel, where most of the foreign journalists remaining in Baghdad are staying.

Today is also the first time that I am truly frightened. It is not the American bombs I am primarily afraid of. What frightens me and Mary—the name I'll give a photographer with whom I've become inseparable—is the mood of the people. The city is thick with anger and defiance, and we are Americans.

Every day since Mary and I arrived by road from Jordan, we have been threatened with expulsion. This morning, once again, we were ordered out. "You have two choices—you can be a human shield or you can leave the country," said my government minder. He offered this without his usual smarmy smile.

"But what about my visa?" I asked.

"Your visa is now to heaven," he said, forcing a laugh.

I talked my way out of it once again. My minder said we could obtain visa "extensions" provided we take HIV tests. I brought my own syringes, and I swabbed Mary's arm and extracted a vial of blood in my room. She did the same for me. We then went to the so-called HIV center together, with bombs dropping around us, to submit our blood to the Iraqi government. Of course, they insisted on taking their own samples. Cruise missiles launched 900 miles away exploded around us, incinerating government buildings as we partook in this ridiculous charade.

This absurdity over, we returned to the Palestine, where we are as prepared as we can be for whatever may come next. We have 300 bottles of the water and have filled the bathtubs in each of several rooms for reserve. We've stockpiled enough food for weeks. Should the power fail, we have a generator and jerry cans filled with petrol purchased on the black market. If a bomb blows out our window, the duct tape we've covered it with should protect us from flying glass. All of our electronics—computers, cameras, communications devices—are wrapped in aluminum foil against so-called e-bombs that will destroy all the data of electronic devices.

At 4 p.m. Baghdad time, an American fighter jet dropped its payload so close that the concussion sucked the air out of our lungs. Mary and I got in our car and drove toward the site of the explosion.

As we crossed one of the four Tigris bridges, there was an enormous traffic jam. Hundreds of armed men and civilians were looking down to the river below. Scores of cars had stopped in the middle of the bridge. We grabbed our gear and got out.

The rumor was that an allied plane had been shot down. Word spread through the crowd that two pilots had parachuted from the downed plane and were floating down the river. One had supposedly already been captured. Whether there were any pilots in the river, I don't know.

Small boats with heavily armed soldiers searched among the reeds. From the banks, people took pot shots at objects in the river. Under the impression that the airman had been captured, thousands of cheering Iraqis chanted and clapped, shooting AK-47s in the air for joy. People in both uniform and civilian clothes eyed us with hostility during this celebration.

"Where are you from?" demanded an armed Iraqi, looking at me.

"Germany," interjected my government guide, abruptly grabbing me by the arm and yanking me away.

"Do not tell them you are American," he whispered as he rushed me to the car. "We must leave. It is very dangerous here."

Then we were on the western side of the Tigris, where the coalition bombardment has struck hardest. The sounds of imams on speakers reverberated through the streets—calls for the people to kill all the Americans. We raced through Baghdad's most dangerous area, passing Saddam's palaces, now piles of burnt rubble. The Foreign Ministry was a concrete shell with no windows and only sullen soldiers at the entrance. Apartment buildings recently filled with civilians were charred, burnt, collapsed, and empty. Hundreds of apartments and no people—where did they all go? Western medical sources have reported some 300 civilian injuries in Baghdad but very few killed.

The Iraqi military had now closed all the Tigris River bridges. Mary and I were stuck. We had to drive north for an hour as bombs continued dropping around us. "This is the road to Babylon," said our government minder. It felt like Babylon. We then took another road—the road to Kuwait, our guide said. We had to drive north of the city, then east, and then south to enter Baghdad on the east bank of the Tigris and return to our hotel.

Explosions are rocking my computer as I write. For the first time, small-arms fire can be heard throughout the city. Anti-aircraft emplacements are set up around the perimeter of our hotel. It's not a good sign. Yesterday those 500 meters from us were destroyed, completely destroyed, by American missiles.

Graphic battle scenes pose dilemma for networks: Iraq Media Coverage

Graphic battle scenes pose dilemma for networks

Chicago Sun-Times

March 24, 2003 | Peter Johnson

Between "tankcams" transmitting live reports from embedded reporters in the Persian Gulf and nifty 3-D studio graphics that show everything from details of a 2,000-pound bomb to a topographical view of Baghdad, viewers are seeing and feeling the war with Iraq unlike any other.

Sunday, as the ground war heated up with reports of more American casualties and U.S. soldiers being taken prisoner, news organizations were expecting more embedded journalists to begin filing from the heat of battle.

And after five days when the most vivid TV footage was primarily of bombs exploding in Baghdad, the specter of embedded correspondents in the thick of things raised the ante for news groups.

Nowhere was this more true than in the instant medium of TV, where what to show and when to show it can be a dicey call with ramifications.

That became apparent Sunday morning when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, making the rounds at all the Sunday talk shows, was talking to Bob Schieffer on CBS' "Face the Nation."

The network aired a few seconds of breaking news video from Al- Jazeera, purportedly showing American prisoners being held by Iraqis.

During a break off camera, CBS executives huddled with Pentagon spokeswoman Torie Clarke and tentatively agreed not to show faces of the captives again until their relatives were contacted.

A few minutes later on CNN, Rumsfeld told Blitzer that it would be "unfortunate" if networks aired the footage. When Blitzer noted that airing it would let families at home know their loved ones were still alive, Rumsfeld said, "You could make that argument, if you wish." (As of midday Sunday, other networks had held off airing the video. Al-Jazeera later aired footage of American soldiers who appeared to have been executed.)

"Things are going to get a whole lot tougher from here on in," CBS News correspondent John Roberts said Sunday afternoon from Iraq, where he is with a battalion near An Nasiriyah, where the 11 U.S. prisoners reportedly were captured.

There is the possibility that embedded cameramen will show firefights between American and Iraqi soldiers on live TV, and that scenario brings with it a new set of ethical concerns for networks-- not the least of which is whether to show it.

"This is new territory for all of us," McGinnis said Sunday, noting that CBS News does not plan to show live video of, say, a soldier being wounded.

Then again, there's a risk that with all this technology, we could see someone die in a live firefight.

"It's going to get hairier from here on in," CNN's Walt Rogers said Sunday, especially as troops get closer to Baghdad. Just hours before, he said, four rounds of Iraqi 120mm shells had exploded 75 yards from him.

Of the embedding experiment, Rogers said he had no complaints and that his unit's commander had not prevented him in any way from reporting anything except his specific location, "which I'm sure the Iraqis know, anyway."

In Baghdad, Slate.com's Nate Thayer said the position of foreign journalists has become "increasingly tenuous."

Friday, he said that as he walked through the city, he and a photographer "were taken into what might be called protective custody and held for four hours. We were offered a choice between serving as human shields in government buildings or heading by car for the Iranian or Syrian border--which is impossible, since there are no roads, and incredibly unwise, since American forces might be bombing fleeing traffic. Eventually, we were returned to our hotel, with the warning that we could be expelled or drafted as unwilling shields at any time."

A Live Report From Baghdad: The Bombing of Baghdad

A Live Report From Baghdad

The Bombing of Baghdad

By Nate Thayer

Posted Saturday, March 22, 2003, at 1:45 PM ET

Nate Thayer is covering the war in Iraq for Slate.

Bombs over Baghdad

Today Baghdad is ringed with fire. The fire comes from burning oil, poured into defensive trenches that have been dug all around the outskirts of the city. Iraqi soldiers set the oil alight and a thick black smoke has begun to fill the sky. The Iraqis are hoping to obscure targets from American pilots, a hopeless plan because most bombs are guided by GPS coordinates, not by sight.

I watched last night's bombing from the roof of a high-rise on the west bank of the Tigris River. The scale of the attack dwarfed what we'd seen the two previous nights.

Tomahawk missiles took out four of Saddam's presidential palaces and other government buildings, including the Defense Ministry, with extraordinary precision. Some of the buildings seemed to implode and collapse; others went up in columns of fire when hit. As a precaution, colleagues and I duct-taped the windows of our rooms, wrapped our communications equipment in aluminum foil. The strikes were terrifying. One was as close as 300 yards, and it blew out windows in our building.

What we witnessed was surely the most sophisticated use of firepower in military history. The missiles, which are launched from ships in the Persian Gulf, come from nowhere. For the first half-hour, Iraqi positions responded with anti-aircraft fire—a completely ineffectual response, even before many of those positions were obliterated by American bombs.

Last night's bombing infuriated minders from the Iraqi Security Service, who continue to keep a close watch on us and who sometimes lash out at Americans. At one point, an enraged Iraqi minder grabbed cameras from a photographer I've been working with and threw them off the roof of the building. Others cursed at President Bush, using a familiar local insult involving his conjugal relations with a member of his family.

Many of the buildings that were targeted in last night's bombardment are cheek-by-jowl with high-rise apartments. Though we couldn't see directly, it seems certain that there were significant numbers of civilian casualties.

When dawn broke this morning, we set off to see what we could of the damage. In the streets, loudspeakers broadcast Muslim prayers. Stores were open, but Iraqi currency with Saddam's picture on it has become essentially worthless. Prices in foreign currency rise by the hour. A bottle of vodka that cost $7 two days ago now costs $45.

On the streets, hostility toward Saddam is increasingly evident, if seldom articulated. There is kindness and rage toward Americans, in equal measure. One soldier kissed me on the cheek. Other people point imaginary weapons at us and say, "Pow-pow!" It seems clear that an American occupation will be met with at least some significant resistance—and the probability of casualties.

Throughout the day, the sounds of intermittent bombing could be heard. We made the round of hospitals, attempting to find out about civilians injured and killed. Though denied entry in some places, I spoke to a doctor at one hospital who said they had taken in 80 wounded.

The position of foreign journalists here is increasingly tenuous. Yesterday, CNN was ordered out, along with German television. They set off for the Jordanian border just as last night's bombing started.

As we walked through the city, my photographer friend and I were taken into what might be called protective custody and held for four hours. We were offered a choice between serving as human shields in government buildings or heading by car for the Iranian or Syrian border—which is impossible, since there are no roads, and incredibly unwise, since American forces might be bombing fleeing traffic. Eventually, we were returned to our hotel, with the warning that we could be expelled or drafted as unwilling human shields at any time

As for the voluntary human shields—cantankerous 70-year-olds from California and 22-year-old hippies from Spain—none of them appear to have been harmed in last night's bombing. So far, oddly, the American bombs have not targeted Baghdad's communications facilities and electrical grid, which is where the shields are staying. They may not be so lucky tonight.

 

A Live Report From Baghdad: Live From Baghdad

A Live Report From Baghdad

Live From Baghdad

By Nate Thayer

Posted Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at 11:59 PM ET

Nate Thayer is covering the war in Iraq for Slate.

BAGHDAD, 6:30 a.m.—At around 4 a.m. Baghdad time, under a full moon, I saw flashes of light high in the sky. These weren't explosions: They looked like reconnaissance flights. At exactly 4:31 a.m., I saw the first strike. An oil refinery on the banks of the River Tigris blew up, throwing up huge flames that have since turned to pillars of smoke. The oil refinery, which looks destroyed, is about 1 kilometer from the hotel where I'm staying.

Since then, I have heard and seen explosions—fairly small ones—every few minutes, mostly in the southern parts of the city, where many military targets are located. Plumes of smoke are visible everywhere. Anti-aircraft batteries started firing as soon as the assault began and haven't stopped, but it's not clear they are shooting at anything. While there is lots of anti-aircraft fire and small arms fire, the incoming attacks are limited.

Throughout the bombing, we have been able to move around unaffected. The city feels remarkably calm. There is morning traffic in the streets, people walk the sidewalks. The security presence is surprisingly light—there wasn't even a curfew last night. Communications networks, which will certainly be targets when the war gets busier, haven't been hit yet. (This is why I am able to call this story out on a hotel landline.) Everyone was anticipating a massive aerial bombardment last night: This was much less than Iraqis expected.

The mood on the streets remains somber and sullen. Stores are mostly closed, and those that are open have run out of duct tape, gasoline, and aluminum foil (which is wrapped around computers to shield them from e-bombs). People seem sad, resigned, sometimes resistant, mostly fearful. There is universal opposition to the war: George W. Bush's name is spit with venom. Yesterday, a soldier saw me on the street and shouted, "George Bush, I fucked your mother. We will win this war because you are here. You are a human shield. We are all human shields and the world is with us." Still, Iraq's celebrated hospitality remains, even in wartime. I have been greeted with kisses and hugs as often as I have with people pointing fingers at me and yelling pow-pow.

The Iraqi government has started turning on the 200-odd foreign journalists who remain here. German and Austrian TV crews were expelled yesterday, and a number of people, including Russian reporters, have been arrested for illegal use of satellite phones. (Iraq controls all satellite phones here.) Some journalists have been forced to return to a central hotel by their government minders, a hotel that had emptied because it's too close to bomb targets, notably the ministry of information. A number of reporters have been arranging backup safe houses and even backup backup safe houses in case the situation gets really bad.

That could happen today. I've heard that the decision will be made today about whether journalists will be taken into "protective custody" and sent to "secure sites." This is another way of saying today is the day we may be taken hostage.

 

Web reports from the front line: Best war blogs on location

The (Australian) Age

Web reports from the front line

March 28 2003

 

Best war blogs on location:

The BBC's team of correspondents is reporting from the Gulf and BBC News Online logs their impressions and personal experiences as they watch events unfold.

Ten Washington Post correspondents have been assigned to U.S. military units reporting portraits of life with the troops in the field.

Christian Science Monitor reporter Ben Arnoldy is reporting from Kuwait where he is with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Group.

CNN reporter Kevin Sites has been publishing a weblog from Iraq but has been asked by his employer to suspend publishing for the time being. There is still a lot of quality recent material available on his site, though.

Nate Thayer is covering the war in Iraq for Slate.

 

What are embedded journalists doing?

Below is a list of the best articles about the process of embedded journalists and the restrictions they face.

1. "Full metal junket: The myth of the objective war correspondent", Slate.

2. "The Hilton's strange embed fellows", Washington Post.

3. "'Embedded' . . . but not 'in bed with'", Washington Times.

4. "How 'embedded' reporters are handling the war", BBC.

5. "Tight lips", ABC.

6. "All embeds are not created equal", Weekly Standard.

7. "Pyle on", Atlantic Monthly.