Woodruff

Bob Woodruff went to Iraq last week in pursuit of some good news, said Alessandra Stanley in The New York Times. Instead, the newly appointed ABC co-anchorman wound up 'œas a glaring illustration of the bad news.' Woodruff, a 44-year-old father of four, was hoping to show American viewers how ordinary Iraqis are struggling to create 'œa semblance of normalcy.' Woodruff spent last Friday 'œchatting with friendly Iraqis and slurping ice cream at a popular Baghdad shop.' Then he and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, decided to focus on Iraqi troops who were being trained to restore order. Riding in an Iraqi Army vehicle north of Baghdad, the two American journalists were standing upright, their upper bodies exposed, when a large roadside bomb detonated beneath them. Both Woodruff and Vogt suffered serious head injuries, shrapnel wounds, and multiple broken bones, and were flown back to the brain injury center of the National Naval Medical Center.

For journalists, this is one of the most perilous wars in history, said Rick Jervis in USA Today. Sixty-one reporters have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion almost three years ago. By contrast, 66 journalists were killed during the 20 years of the Vietnam conflict, and 68 were killed covering World War II. Veteran reporters say that covering Iraq is becoming nearly impossible; they cannot travel alone without a high risk of being kidnapped or killed, so they must 'œembed' themselves with military units and become targets of ambushes and roadside bombs. As the bombings and kidnappings mount, many Western news agencies are withdrawing their correspondents, leaving much of what's happening unseen and uncovered.

There's a message there, said The Miami Herald in an editorial. The Bush administration insists it's making great progress in Iraq. But if a high-profile American news anchor isn't safe there, 'œthen it is fair to assume that practically no one in Iraq is.' As someone who's been there three times in the past 18 months, said Lawrence Kaplan in The New Republic, I can attest to that. Nearly every day, I found myself thinking, 'œI really have to get the f--- out of here.' Then I'd realize that the soldier next to me didn't have the luxury of deciding when to escape. 'œHowever difficult it may be for the media to operate in Iraq, it is infinitely and cruelly more so for the American soldiers and Iraqi civilians on whom every journalist depends.'

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