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

[grytpype]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12816750.htm

This is an article from Tuesday, and I'm not sure if it was already posted, but it is a must-read... a chronology of a KR reporter's second day in Iraq. It just goes to show that the security situation, even in the Green Zone, is worse than we can imagine.

A brief excerpt, read the whole article:

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.

(more at article, read the whole thing)

[shoelace414]

1. freedom is on the march