November 12, 2007
Help Wanted In Baghdad
USA Today has had an ad up for an Iraq correspondent for three weeks. Why so few takers? Hmm, let's see...
Still, it's a little surprising that a major daily like USAT is having so much trouble filling this job -- if that's indeed the case. (A call to the newspaper's spokeswoman was not immediately returned.) (UPDATE: The job has been filled, said a spokeswoman who admitted that applications were not exactly pouring in.) Journalists generally don't go into this field to cover town hall meetings, even if that's where many of them start off. The way the war has been run has proved incredibly frustrating to the reporters covering it, yet those same correspondents continue to return to the line of fire again and again.
Though every moment in Iraq is a pivotal one, now seems an especially keen time to spend on the ground. The rate of rocket attacks has dropped significantly, and the government says Iraqis who fled previous violence are starting to return home.
While violent intra- and intersectarian rivalries remain a huge obstacle to stability in Iraq, assorted deal-making and an overall weariness with the tactics of the insurgency have brought calm to once-restive zones. Other factors, some positive and some quite negative, include ethnic cleansing, tightened border security, and strengthening of Iraqi police and security forces. Reports Long War Journal's Bill Ardolino: "Officials see an eventually finite but not-yet-closing window of opportunity for the Shia-controlled national government to compromise with tribal leaders before local and regional gains can stall or eventually be lost."
Another major progress report on U.S. efforts in Iraq is due in March; in the meantime, we're headed for another appropriations fight that President Bush is again sure to win. It's hard to believe any reporter worth his or her salt wouldn't want a bird's eye view of developments in Iraq at this critical time. Then again, at this point even U.S. servicemen and women might not blame anyone who can avoid going to Iraq for opting out.
Hat tip: Iraq Slogger
Posted at 2:58 PM
Posted to:
Bush Administration, Iraq, Media, Middle East, Military, President Bush
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