Beyond the Green Zone

Former Alaska mountain guide Dahr Jamail had no formal journalism training or experience when he picked up a laptop and digital camera and headed to Iraq initially emailing stories back to a small group of friends. He soon got picked up by independent news services. Beyond the Green Zone is a compilation of Jamail’s reports,

Jamail’s reporting from inside Fallujah during the infamous 2004 siege is most revealing. He arrived in the ravaged town with a group of activists and human rights workers, determined to distribute much-needed medicine to dilapidated hospitals. He sees countless men, women and children shot by American snipers, dying without adequate care and family members railing against a policy that deems it legitimate to shoot ambulances ferrying the injured… he’s astounded to see CNN and The New York Times reporting that a ceasefire in the city is “holding”. “Their reporters [were] happily embedded with troops”, he observes, “obediently regurgitating the military press releases for US audiences.” link