"The sights, sounds and threat of violence are a constant in Baghdad"

[eleny]

By Matthew Schofield

Knight Ridder Newspapers

"Matthew Schofield, Knight Ridder Newspaper's Berlin-based Europe correspondent, is beginning a six-week assignment in Knight Ridder's Baghdad Bureau - his third reporting trip to the Iraqi capital since he accompanied U.S. Marines during the initial U.S. push into Iraq in March 2003. The following account was written as a memo on how he'd spent his second day back in the country.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - So, this was my Tuesday:

Woke up, 7 a.m., gunfire outside. Decided to read in the windowless bathroom, then take shower and brush teeth, using bottled water, of course.

9 a.m. - Kevin, a former British Royal Marine commando who's in charge of security for Knight Ridder, warns that things might be heating up, so be careful out there. He reads the daily reports of violence all over the country.

"Out where?" I ask. "I'm not leaving the building, am I?"

"Yes," I'm told, "You're on for the Green Zone" - the supposedly secure city center that is home to most of the Iraqi government and the U.S. Embassy.

10 a.m. - Go have breakfast. Kevin carries a blue backpack containing an AK-47. He says that I need some exercise and that he's willing to cover me if I go for a swim later. I think he's joking.

11 a.m. - We leave the 10-foot-high blast walls that surround the hotel complex in a two-car convoy. The rear car's job is to run interference in case "bad guys" try to intercept "the package" (that would be me).

Noon - Dropped off several blocks from the Green Zone and walk to Checkpoint 3 (the main entrance). Walking because on Monday Iraqi army soldiers pushed me back inside the car, while pointing a machine gun at my head and shouting. They fired at reporters - warning shots, the reporters think - from National Public Radio and The Wall Street Journal. The three incidents prompted a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman to start a briefing with journalists by saying, "OK, raise your hand if you were shot at today."

As I'm walking, phone rings. I answer. My Iraqi colleague Mohammed, who reports full time for Knight Ridder, takes the phone from my hand, whispering fiercely, "No English here. Be very, very afraid here."

I get inside and call the number back, reaching a very nice U.S. Army major who says we need to meet to discuss how to make the entrance to the Green Zone safer for journalists. "Can you meet in about an hour?" he asks. I agree, and he says he'll pick me up at the National Assembly building at 12:50 p.m., and we'll walk together to Checkpoint 3.

12:10 p.m. - Get inside National Assembly building. Someone steals my watch at the final security check.

12:30 p.m. - Talking to Saddam Hussein's old translator. He explains that democracy in the new Iraq is a fiasco. Bush's fault, and Bush will have to face the judgment of history for his mistakes. (All times from here are approximate; see above.)

12:50 p.m. - The major is late so I decide to head down to the checkpoint and wait for him. Mohammed says, "No, you're not. You're waiting for his call."

1 p.m. - On phone with the major, who's apologizing for being late when a car bomb explodes at Checkpoint 3 entrance. Gunfire ensues.

1-3 p.m. - Locked down in National Assembly building with legislators while bomb debris and bodies are cleared from the street."

The rest here http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12816750.htm

[stillcool]

1. Could it be anymore effed up?

<9 p.m. - The booms are now pretty constant in southern part of town. Kev says it's no big deal. Last night he said the same thing, "It's a gun battle across the street. No big deal." Tonight he notes, "The heavy stuff is a ways away." I look at a map. Three miles>

I hope he makes it home.

[leftchick]

2. I was just going to post this!

GMTA eleny!

Isn't this quite the article? Amazing shit, shocking even for a jaded Iraq watcher for myself!

...<snip>

"OK, raise your hand if you were shot at today."

:wow:

[eleny]

4. A friend just sent it in email...

...and it didn't turn up in a search here at DU. This sort of human interest is something we're always interested in reading.

My first thought was like what "stillcool" replied - I hope he makes it home. After this first incredible day, you have to wonder how he'll be able to stay for six weeks.

I also thought that perhaps Al Franken has no business going there to entertain the troops this year.

[ClintonTyree]

3. Sweet Jesus, what a clusterfuck.........

but remember, it's in it's "last throes". :eyes:

[eleny]

6. Makes you wonder if it's not the U.S. effort that's in it's last throes

[oppositionmember]

5. Good stuff...

Looks like a good guy - hope he makes it out in one piece.