Mideast Diaries

Yesterday was such a nervous, busy, crazy day for me.  For all the reporters here.  Talking to people still in Kuwait and Jordan, everyone was freaking out that they’re missing the big show.  The situation was changing so dramatically hour by hour.  I was getting and making phone calls all day: what have you heard about the border? What have you heard about the road?  Etc.  Over the course of the day, it became clear that Jordan was a better place to be than Kuwait.  I have a friend who was getting ready to fly from Jordan to come here to join me on the trip north.  Every hour it changed and finally in the evening she said, forget Kuwait, I’m going from Jordan.  Tonight.  (more…)

I can’t remember being so frustrated as a reporter.  I came to Kuwait a week ago because Amman was not happening.  There was no way in to Iraq, no news going on.  Kuwait seemed ideal.  You could go into southern Iraq, there’s lots of briefings and military people and business people.  Tons of stories to do.  Then I got here.  The main thing is there are 2,000 reporters or 2,400 or something.  And there’s just not that much happening here.  The news is being reported by the embedded journalists who are in with the troops.  (more…)

This is one of those days where it drives me absolutely crazy to be in the Arab world.  It’s all these small things.  Like, I got in late last night after reporting all day and there were these security guards in the hotel lobby who wanted to x-ray everything.  They made me take my shoes off and my glasses and dump out my bag of radio equipment and they were just such dicks about everything.  I threw a fit and said I’m just trying to go to sleep and I’m obviously not a threat.  I don’t even know what they were doing, what they were thinking. (more…)