Iraq "98 Percent Off-Limits" for Press Corps

"Everyone is kind of groping around in the dark," says New York Times Baghdad correspondent Dexter Filkins on his return from reporting in Iraq. Despite employing 70 Iraqi staffers, the civil war there (Filkins doesn't hedge--"Yeah, sure" it's a civil war) has meant the Times cannot safely access stories. Its own five correspondents primarily spend their time pasting together reports by the Iraqi staff, protected by a small army of 45 security guards, armored cars, and belt-fed rooftop machine guns. "Nobody trusts anybody anymore. There's no law, and the worst people with guns are in charge." The Iraqi reporters know that if their association with the Times is revealed they may pay with their lives, Filkins told the Committee to Protect Journalists at a September 14, 2006, talk in Manhattan where he is preparing to serve a U.S. fellowship. His advice to other reporters thinking about covering Iraq: "Don't go." Filkins said that the U.S. military is similarly hamstrung in getting quality information: soldiers rarely leave their bases and don't interact much with average Iraqis. Ninety-eight percent of Iraq, including Baghdad, is too dangerous for reporters to cover, he said.