Saturday, November 29, 2003

Uncensored War Stories From Iraq

"CBC News interviewed more the 50 journalists for DEADLINE IRAQ: Uncensored Stories of the War.

Here are the full stories from 12 of them. They tell us more about what is was like when the bombing started over Bahgdad, what is was really like to live in a fox hole with the American troops and what happened when the Palestine Hotel - where the media was based - was bombed.

They share the excitement, the heartbreak and the horror of the war in Iraq.

CAROLINE SINZ, REPORTER, FR3:
Sinz and her crew were filming in the Palestine Hotel the morning it was bombed. Her cameraman captured footage of the attack, proof that it was the American military that fired on the hotel.

CRAIG WHITE, CAMERAMAN, NBC:
White was with NBC Correspondent David Bloom when he died of a blood clot on the way to Baghdad with the American army. Only a day later, White was trapped in a fierce battle to take the capital city.

DAVID CHATER, CORRESPONDENT, SKY NEWS:
Chater was one of the first journalists to go live when the bombs starting falling in Iraq. He covered the Iraqi side of the war and documented the human toll of the American invasion.

JOHN F. BURNS, CHIEF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES:
Dubbed the 'most dangerous man in Baghdad' by Iraqi officials, Burns remained in Baghdad to cover the war. Just before the Americans captured the city, five Iraqi officials showed up at his hotel room and accused him of espionage.

JOHN ROBERTS, REPORTER, CBS:
Roberts and his crew were towed through the battle for Nasaria by a 7 ton army turck with their Humvee broke down. "It was like a Disney ride through hell."

PATRICK GRAHAM, FREELANCE REPORTER:
Graham was sitting in an internet cafe just outside the Ministry of Information in Baghdad when the 'shock and awe' campaign began. He took shelter inside a bathroom with several Iraqi secret service agents.

ROB CURTIS, PHOTOGRAPHER, ARMY TIMES:
Curtis photographed one of the first American war causalities, Larry Brown, as he was rushed in from the field. It was a picture that scandalized the military.

ROSS SIMPSON, REPORTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS RADIO:
Simpson was embedded with the American troops and was one of the first journalists in the race to seize Baghdad. He saw the many Iraqi causalities that were left behind in the countryside.

RUTH FREMSON, PHOTOGRAPHER, NEW YORK TIMES:
Ruth Fremson covered the northern front of the war in Iraq. When the city of Kirkuk fell, she photographed both the celebration and the carnage.

SAMIA NAKHOUL, GULF BUREAU CHIEF, REUTERS:
As Nakhoul watched the Americans take Baghdad from the 15th floor balcony of the Palestine hotel, a American tank fired a shell that ripped through her hotel room.

STEVEN HIRD, PHOTOGRAPHER, REUTERS:
Hird covered the front lines of the war, as he traveled with an elite unit of Royal Marines.

WILLIAM BRANIGIN, REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST:
William Branigin was nearby when the American military fired on a Land Rover trying to cross a checkpoint. Many innocent Iraqi civilians were killed in error."

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