Omar Chatriwala, a correspondent based out of Doha, Qatar, with Al Jazeera English, has an interesting post up detailing the daily drudgery and detail of reporting in Iraq. Snip from the section about his entry into the country:
It was another hour and a half before a US military administrator called me in. She proceeded to take photos of me from five angles and scan my fingerprints – first my thumbs, then four fingers on one hand, then four fingers on the other, then all five digits individually rolled across the scanner, then forefingers and thumbs again on another scanner. After that, it was retinal scans.
Basically, Omar’s account sounds like a lot of waiting, ambient danger, and everything is a huge pain in the ass. Lots of boring slow parts, then the fast parts when things blow up. Literally. He continues:
So here again is why I have to say, credit is due to those who report in the country, day in and day out, despite these obstacles.
Reporting In Iraq (Photo by Omar Chatriwala)