Lessons from the war in Iraq

(cross-posted here)

This is a little late, but it's still worth extra credit and I still wanted to mention this one thought.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran of The Washington Post, author of "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," came to WSU last Friday to give a talk about U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, especially about relations with Pakistan. Earlier in the day, he met for an hour with communication students to answer questions, and he spoke about his experiences covering Iraq in the early days of the war when no one expected it to go on very long. He also talked about what it's like to be covering this campaign season.

At one point he was talking about trying to get through Baghdad the day Saddam fell, and how he and a fellow journalist were stopped at a checkpost. They convinced the marine on duty not only to let them pass, but to radio ahead and tell the other checkpoint guards to let them move freely.

I've been reading a lot about journalists in war zones, and this proves things haven't changed that much at all since WWII. That is, the main skill in covering wars is tricking your way into places journalists aren't supposed to be. And not dying.