Bluesman

Imagine that you're a rookie journalist, a cherry war correspondent that has just gotten your big break - Assignment: Iraq, as an embed with the unit of your choice, covering whatever you think the public needs to know.

Tell me where you want to go, which unit you'll be bunking with, what story you most want to cover.

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"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell

Officer of Engineers

At the mess, listening to the stories that THEY want to tell me in exchange for a few scotches.

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Chimo

Bluesman

A very 'Ernie Pyle' approach, and something I'd be extremely attracted to; I'd want to read your stories.

Anybody else?

cato

I would expose the Americans for the butchers they are. Expose the deliberate targeting of innocent civillians, the murder for oil, Haliburton's occupation of Arab lands, and show the world America's genocidal war against Islam. I would naturally seek out the heroic resistance fighters, and document their righteous war of liberation against the Crusader occupiers, and their collaborators.












J/K
Despite the phenominal achievements of GEN. Petraeus' tenure, the real story isn't the U.S. military at all. For a young guy with balls of steel, the beat to walk would be with the Sunni tribal militias operating against AQI as part of the Anbar Awakening. That would be a tough, tough job, with the very real chance of getting (badly, and slowly) whacked by very bad people. Much, much more dangerous than embedding with U.S. forces, but with the payoff of getting a personal and up-close view of the phenomenon that turned the tables on the worst of the worst that Salafist Jihadism has produced.

It is an ugly war, being fought out in those deserts, and those tribesmen deserve more recognition than the occasional blurbs in the daily "Iraq" section of the NYT or WP. If that were to prove impossible, I'd hook up with an Iraqi infantry unit fighting the good fight in the Triangle of Death or somewhere in Diyala. Of course making sure I've got an outstanding international medi-vac insurance policy, 'cuz those brave SOBs are taking casualties.

Cato

dalem

I'd want to embed with a unit working closely with Iraqis, soldiers and civilians if possible, and report on the positives of the reconstruction and recovery.

-dale

Bluesman

GREAT post, man. I'd read your dispacthes FO' SHO'. I agree that would probably be the tuffest, most dangerous journalism you could sign up for. Which is why nobody is doing it.

Good answer.

Good 'joke' answer, too.

Bluesman

That's purty close to what I'd want to investigate, too: how is the 'Hearts and Minds' thang playing out? I want to know, and the story I'd want to tell, is about the Info War, the PR battle, the part we've jacked up for the past four years.

I'd like to cover psyops, and the actual, genuine situation on the Iraqi street. Do they blame us when the lights go out? Do they think well of us when the med teams go though and vaccinate the kids and stitch up the farmers? What are the religious leaders telling the faithful to do re: our troops during Friday prayers? What do the politicians in Iraq think about the war politics in America?

I think that's the predictive story that will tell us whether we've got a chance.

LongshotSNN

Like what Dalem's posted, I'd like to embed with a unit involved in reconstruction or at least attempting the resumption of services like this one.

I'd like to pose an interview with 4 figures (in a group form if possible): a Coalition/US field unit leader involved in the reconstruction effort; a local parent, better if an Iraqi mom; also, an Iraqi police officer who patrols the local area to get a feeling of the ground (although it is more likely that it will be the local precinct commander who will be answering my interview questions), and also a local sheikh to shed further light on the area's networks and possible twists.

Probably a human interest piece or series of such.

Also, Bluesman, a Friday mosque article like you suggested is a very good idea too.

Bigfella

Part of the question here is 'who am I writing/reporting for?'

If it is for your standard news outlet then I probably want to see some shots fired (though hopefully not too close to me). My best bet would probably be one of the units outside Baghdad actually seeking out the enemy.

If I am able to write a longer piece, however, I'd want to spend a few weeks patrolling in some of the former 'no go' areas in Baghdad. I'd like the chance to describe & explain the distinctly unsexy facts about how you conduct counter-insurgency: connect with the locals, get them to trust that you can keep them secure, help where you can (though I wouldn't envisage being with a unit dedicated to this), never give the enemy easy access to the population, always let him know that you are around & that if he's around, he'd better keep his head down.

I'd like to go out on some joint US/Iraqi patrols, either with Iraqi army or militia. I'd want people to understand that winning the war is not just about bombs & bullets. It isn't 'exciting'. It is mostly boring & repetitive grunt work aimed at creating a relationship of sorts with ordinary people.

I would also want to see how US soldiers have been trained to interact with locals & what the impact is. One of the biggest problems in any occupation (and this is an occupation, if not a hostile one) is cross-cultural misunderstandings. These are problematic enough at the best of times, but when one or both sides are armed the potential for disater increases dramatically. So too does the potential to cause offence. In a situation of great power imbalance where the ones with the power are trying to win over the ones without, they have to be doubly careful to avoid misunderstandings. I think this is one of the least understood but most important aspects of the war. What the US military is doing to deal with it on a day to day basis would be worth communicating to people.

I would probably avoid reconstruction work. This isn't because it is not interesting or vital, but because it always looks a bit staged (whether it is or not). There is always a danger in reporting the 'look how nice we are' stuff that it looks too much like the sort of thing government or military PR people cook up. In an age of perpetual election campaigns & omnipresent spin doctors anything that even looks like spin is in danger of being dismissed.

The other thing I would want to do is talk to ordinary Iraqis & try to get a sense of what they do & don't want from America. I would like to get their assessment of the situation, of the US, of their government, of the terrorists/resistance (depending on who you ask), on the ethnic divide. This is where the war will ultimately be won or lost.

Julie

I would like to cover the meetings of Iranian "diplomats" inside Iraq.