Dahr Jamail (now back in Iraq) is the best journalist writing from the Middle East

Dahr Jamail is now back in Iraq. Originally from Texas, the former mountain-guide turned award-winning citizen journalist has achieved international acclaim for his unembedded reports from Iraq. He puts the mainstream western media to utter shame for the superficiality and complacency of their coverage. His despatches are now available on a revamped website which is essential reading for anyone who truly wants to know what is going on in real Iraq.

Dahr recently visited Ireland to participate in a MediaBite debate held at the DIT on the theme of 'Reporting War'. He was joined on that occasion by Paddy Smyth, Foreign Editor of the Irish Times, Fergal Keane of RTE Radio 1, Joe Zefran RTE News Online, Harry Browne DIT, Pepe Escobar of the Asia Times and Real News Network and last but by absolutely no means least - the anti-war activist Ciaron O' Reilly of the Pitstop Ploughshares. More at the MediaBite website on that event.

Dahr's website is at the link. Anyone who is inclined to believe the fiction that conditions are 'improving' in Iraq ought to read it:

http://dahrjamailiraq.com.

Aragon wrote:

Dahr Jamail is now back in Iraq. Originally from Texas, the former
mountain-guide turned award-winning citizen journalist has achieved
international acclaim for his unembedded reports from Iraq. He puts the
mainstream western media to utter shame for the superficiality and
complacency of their coverage. His despatches are now available on a
revamped website which is essential reading for anyone who truly wants
to know what is going on in real Iraq.

Hear hear.

Thanks for the update.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/20/arts/bookmon.php

Did anyone else hear an interview with an American journalist called Gellman on RTE today. He has just published a book on Cheney. In the book it is not only shown that Cheney lied to Congress to get the Iraq vote through, but also that he knew there was no Iraq-9/11 connection, but believed that the US needed to invade some state or other as an example, to strike fear into the region.

There must be a gaol cell waiting somewhere with his name on it.

I read something about Gellman's book the other day - will try to hunt it out - I think it was reviewed in one of the English papers.

Meanwhile, here's a shaming account of present conditions in Baghdad Medical City:

Razak has been doing his job for the last ten years, the first five of them quite happy ones. “We used to have a special elevator just for doctors and professors,” he says. “But by now most have left, and some have been killed. I know three doctors who have been killed.”

Past the elevators and up the stairs, it gets worse.

“There is no air-conditioning in the building, when temperatures can be 48C, almost no qualified staff to serve patients, no antibiotics, and sometimes not even basic material for intravenous treatment,” says Dr. Samir Abdul Zahra, who treats patients while also doing his medical studies.

There are no senior doctors around. “Most of them left because of the situation in the city, the lack of security,” Dr. Zahra says. And that affects teaching as much as treatment. “We are educating ourselves now. This means also that young doctors are taking on complex cases they are simply not qualified to deal with.”

This dilemma is particularly acute at Baghdad Medical City because it is the largest medical complex in Iraq, and the most serious cases are usually taken to this hospital.

At this complex now, it is not even safe to drink tap water any more. Sometimes doctors cannot find water even to wash their hands. Equipment is often not sterilised.

Full report here: http://dahrjamailiraq.com/the-biggest-hospitals-become-sick

Some of the doctors are here.

As well as doctors under pressure, journalists have been too. Isn't it the case that in some modern wars journalists have a higher percentage chance of getting killed than soldiers have?

cactus flower wrote:

Some of the doctors are here.

As well as doctors under pressure, journalists have been too. Isn't it the case that in some modern wars journalists have a higher percentage chance of getting killed than soldiers have?

I wouldn't think so, not in general terms anyway.

You'd have to break it down somewhat to arrive at a useful conclusion. Embedded journalists for example are relatively safe. They (and I'll confine myself to Iraq) tend not to leave the Green Zone in Bagdad and have less of a clue about what is going on than the average monkey, or at least the average monkey that has unfiltered and uninterrupted access to the internet. Unfortunately, we get most of the news from these clowns and it's tended to be believed.

On the other hand, folks like Dahr, really are taking large risks. For example, Dahr was one of the very few journalists to stay in Fallujah whilst the US pounded it with chemical weapons and other munitions. It's thanks to folks like Dahr that we can get any credible news from war zones.

Of course the indigenous journalists who do not embed, are taking major risks and suffer a much higher casualty rate than troops. However, I'm not so sure that we can figure this into what's being said as very little of what they write and report ever makes it into the mainstream.

Some journalists face incredible risks, and not just from stray bullets and bombs. A lot of what's happening would be contrary to US interests and being contrary to US interests is like hanging a target around your neck.

Here's a link to my coverage of the debate organised by MediaBite referred to in the OP. There's an audio of the debate in the report. The quality of the audio is not brilliant as I had to compress it to make it suitable for Indymedia: LINK

Here's a link to RTE's website, click the video camera icon to watch the debate (it's well worth watching): LINK