Long drive through a short war
Long Drive through a short war - by Peter Wilson
Peter Wilson and photographer John Feder were among the few unembedded journalists during the recent Iraq War. They roamed around southern Iraq during the first part of the war, but after being arrested in Basra, were trucked to Baghdad where they were placed under house arrest. They continued filing reports in secret, and were witness to the fall of Saddam and its aftermath. The book is also about other victims of war, chief among them Ali Abbas, the horribly wounded little boy whose evacuation Peter and John arranged. More recently, Peter has returned to Baghdad to follow up on the contacts and people he met while covering the war.
I just finished this book last night and it was fantastic. Peter Wilson is one of Australias greatest journalists due to his uncommon foresight in reporting the true course of the war. In fact, he was awarded 'Journalist of the year' in 2003 for this very trait.
You see, the American Military prefers Journalists reporting on conflicts to be 'embedded' within a military unit. What this means is that you (as a journalist) are assigned to a specific unit, and you have no choice but to go where they go, when they go there, and see what they see.
It all sounds great in theory, but what it effectively means is that the US armed forces have total control over where Journalists can go, and whom they can talk to (embedded journalists were strictly forbidden from conducting free interviews with Iraqi citizens). The Military was controlling 95% of the press for their "liberation of Iraq".
Peter Wilson and photographer John Feder were what the 'coalition' refers to as 'unilaterals'. That is, they were not embedded journalists. They went into Iraq illegally (not having Iraqi work Visas - punishable by 7 years in an Iraqi jail) through Kuwait, and were determined to talk to the Iraqi people whose lives were about to change dramatically, instead of reporting on 'the soldiers war' like their embedded colleagues.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone whom has a passing interest in Journalism, photojournalism, or just wants to know the 'truth' about what you saw on Fox News.
Peter Wilson and photographer John Feder were among the few unembedded journalists during the recent Iraq War. They roamed around southern Iraq during the first part of the war, but after being arrested in Basra, were trucked to Baghdad where they were placed under house arrest. They continued filing reports in secret, and were witness to the fall of Saddam and its aftermath. The book is also about other victims of war, chief among them Ali Abbas, the horribly wounded little boy whose evacuation Peter and John arranged. More recently, Peter has returned to Baghdad to follow up on the contacts and people he met while covering the war.
I just finished this book last night and it was fantastic. Peter Wilson is one of Australias greatest journalists due to his uncommon foresight in reporting the true course of the war. In fact, he was awarded 'Journalist of the year' in 2003 for this very trait.
You see, the American Military prefers Journalists reporting on conflicts to be 'embedded' within a military unit. What this means is that you (as a journalist) are assigned to a specific unit, and you have no choice but to go where they go, when they go there, and see what they see.
It all sounds great in theory, but what it effectively means is that the US armed forces have total control over where Journalists can go, and whom they can talk to (embedded journalists were strictly forbidden from conducting free interviews with Iraqi citizens). The Military was controlling 95% of the press for their "liberation of Iraq".
Peter Wilson and photographer John Feder were what the 'coalition' refers to as 'unilaterals'. That is, they were not embedded journalists. They went into Iraq illegally (not having Iraqi work Visas - punishable by 7 years in an Iraqi jail) through Kuwait, and were determined to talk to the Iraqi people whose lives were about to change dramatically, instead of reporting on 'the soldiers war' like their embedded colleagues.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone whom has a passing interest in Journalism, photojournalism, or just wants to know the 'truth' about what you saw on Fox News.