IRAQ: (Almost) reporting from Baghdad
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By Kimi Yoshino in Baghdad
They call publishing a newspaper a ‘daily miracle.’ In Iraq, that’s especially true.
It’s been 11 months since I last reported from Baghdad -- a year of forgetting or, more accurately, trying to forget -- just how frustrating and time-consuming reporting here can be.
Wednesday night, the press advisory landed in my in-box: ‘PRESS CONFERENCE WITH SENIOR U.S. DEFENSE OFFICIAL.’ No details about who it might be or what might be discussed, only that the briefing would last all of 20 minutes and that media should check in on Thursday no later than 11:15 a.m. -- two hours before the start of the news conference. And that’s not counting the extra hour needed to navigate through multiple Green Zone security checkpoints in which you’re body-searched and scanned and every possession goes through the same type of baggage machines you see at airports.
I arrived at CPIC -- the Combined Press Information Center -- with ample time to renew my official press ID card, check on new badges for our Iraqi staff and still settle in for a long wait. From the press lounge, I watched the live feed as military staffers performed sound checks and white-balance tests. Reporters were even briefly kicked out of the lounge as bomb-sniffing dogs cleared the room. In one fleeting moment of excitement, reporters and camera crews began filing out of the lounge and into the news conference room. Just a false alarm. It wasn’t time yet.
We made our way back to our seats for more waiting when we were told -- about half an hour before news conference time -- that the whole thing had been canceled and it was unlikely to be rescheduled.
In my annoyance, I didn’t even pay attention to see just which big wig had stood us up, though it was rumored among the press corps to be Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Back in the bureau, I called the press office to confirm this. More than two hours later, I’m still waiting for an answer.
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