Death, dreams and dread
I had a dream last night. It was the same one I've had since August 20, when I learned of Jim Foley's death. A man in black holds a small…
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September 19, 2014
Courage in journalism, Part II: RIP, Habibi
A few months ago, my friend and colleague Lateef Mungin died quite suddenly. This morning, more shocking news awaited me. CNN photojournalist Sarmad Qaseera passed away. He was 42. Here's…
September 1, 2014
Courage in journalism
Honoring the courage and fortitude of James Foley today. Rest in peace. I had intended to write more about him but words are failing me now. So I am posting…
August 20, 2014
Trouble for a forgotten people
Who are the Yezedis, the 40,000 people who are hiding in the Sinjar Mountains from the horror of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants? They are not Muslims.…
August 8, 2014
A Romeo and Juliet love story from Iraq
I met Mike when sectarian strife exploded in Baghdad in 2006. That was not his real name, of course, but it was what he went by in his job as…
June 30, 2014
Remembering Ramadi as Iraq suffers again
I fought off tears as I read Sunday's New York Times. The news from Iraq was horrifying. A vicious civil war seems imminent as fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq…
June 16, 2014
Memorial Day is not National BBQ Day
Occasionally, I pick up my iPhone and am pleasantly surprised to see an incoming call from a soldier I met in Iraq. The other night, it was Mike Brown,…
May 25, 2014
Sad news from Afghanistan
We lost another amazing journalist today. Anja Niedringhaus, 48, an acclaimed photographer for the Associated Press, died instantly after an Afghan policeman opened fire while they were sitting in their car…
April 4, 2014
Iraq's forgotten tragedy
I just read an excerpt from Peter Baker's new book, "Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House. It's being touted as the most comprehensive account of the…
October 21, 2013
The price of independence
It's too bad "Midnight's Children" was a bust at the box office. I'm thinking that Deepa Mehta was perhaps the wrong director to give us the celluloid depiction of Salman…
August 14, 2013