Slightly Cuter Rats

Posted at 8:03 am on Friday, March 3, 2006, in Uncategorized, and tagged iraq, tapper.

Jake Tapper of ABC News is stationed in Iraq, and today, he has responded to my open-ended question, “What’s the atmosphere among the journalists and reporters stationed in Iraq like?”

Tapper writes: “The accomodations and food and all that are fine; about what you’d expect. There are frequent power outages, and the sound of mortar and explosions is not uncommon. Stray orange cats run about the compound; they’re regarded here by locals and most of the bureau as essentially slightly cuter rats. The lack of security on the ground here — the daily mortar shells, car bombs, kidnappings, etc. — make it impossible to cover the story as one might cover, say, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. You cannot just get in a car and go.“

And I commented (once again)…

Talk about a time difference. Before I even check my email in the morning you have posted two blog entries.

And about your frustration… I’ve heard different opinions regarding the safety in Iraq, namely the president, who has stated that “progress is being made.” That seems to contradict with your seemingly first-hand knowledge. Interesting…

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