dinsdag, april 29, 2003
I feel extremely fortunate to be out and safe. Many times I said to myself, 'This is the last war I will cover.' It remains to be seen if I will stay true to that. I'm not sure at this point. War is at best a necessary evil, and I am certain that anyone that feels differently has never experienced or been in it. I have always hoped that true images of conflict give one the opportunity to witness and reflect more fully on the full realities of war. This gulf war, I again decided to work independently rather than join the more than 800 journalists embedded with U.S. forces in and around Iraq, hoping it would enable me to have the widest exposure possible to all aspects of the war. Being American I was, for better or worse, associated with the aggressors by the Iraqi people. The whole experience was something akin to entering North Vietnam while the Americans are bombing it. I was never officially allowed to enter Iraq from Kuwait. Each time, I was obliged to pass the border using my own devices. I traveled in a small convoy with a couple of other photographers, and transmitted pictures digitally every night from whatever place I could find that would provide some measure of protection. There was little food or fresh water available in Iraq. All I had was what I had brought with me from Kuwait. I ate more tuna than I have eaten in my whole life put together. Meanwhile, gas was so scarce that I carried it in cans on top of my four-wheel drive vehicle or bought it on the black market. Anything I needed to function, I had to have with me in my car. That alone put me in a precarious position. If my vehicle broke down, it could have rendered me absolutely vulnerable at any moment to Iraqi fighters, Iraqi guerrillas, hostile Iraqi people. I was usually never more than 50 miles from the Iraq-Kuwait border, but every time I crossed over, there was the distinct possibility I would not be able to return. Those were the conditions I was working in for several weeks, at no time did I feel particularly safe. Tensions between the Iraqi people and those covering or invading the country were rarely portrayed fully in news accounts. The situation was extraordinarily reserved at best, openly hostile at worst. During the month I was there, only twice did I see any glimmer of a smile on any Iraqis' face. Even the much-played televised image of jubilant Iraqis toppling a statue of Saddam Hussein and hugging American soldiers was largely an isolated occurrence, and not reflective of the atmosphere I saw in Baghdad. When I left Iraq, I left a place that was in total chaos. Lawlessness, vast destruction, devastation, no electric power, almost no fresh water. People almost ubiquitously suffering in one way or another. The average Iraqi person was living with a tremendous degree of uncertainty about their future and about their security and well-being. My time in Iraq has left me wondering whether I will ever again return to the front lines. Never before did I feel so vulnerable.
Peter Turnley in a telephone interview from Paris to The Journal Gazette.
Peter Turnley in a telephone interview from Paris to The Journal Gazette.
# posted by Jan-Edward : 01:47
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