THIS WAR IS NOT WORKING

I am still in shock and awe at being fired. There is enormous
sensitivity within the US government to reports coming out from
Baghdad.

They don’t want credible news organisations reporting from here
because it presents them with enormous problems.

I reported on the original bombing for NBC and we were half a mile
away from those massive explosions. Now I am really shocked that I
am no longer reporting this story for the US and awed by the fact
that it actually happened.

That overnight my successful NBC reporting career was turned to
ashes. And why ?

Because I stated the obvious to Iraqi television ; that the US war
timetable has fallen by the wayside.

I have made those comments to television stations around the world
and now I’m making them again in the Daily Mirror.

I’m not angry. I’m not crying. But I’m also awed by this media
phenomenon.

The right-wing media and politicians are looking for any opportunity
to be critical of the reporters who are here, whatever their
nationality. I made the misjudgment which gave them the opportunity
to do so.

I gave an impromptu interview to Iraqi television feeling that after
four months of interviewing hundreds of them it was only
professional courtesy to give them a few comments.

That was my Waterloo - bang !

I have not yet decided what to do, whether to pack my bags and leave
Baghdad or stay on.

I’ll decide what to do today, right now I’m chewing on what has
happened to me.

But whatever happens I will never stop reporting on the truth of
this war whether I am in Baghdad or somewhere else in the Middle
East - or even back in Washington.

I was here in 1991 and the bombing is very similar to that conflict
but the reality is very different.

The US and British want to come here, take over the city, upturn the
government and take us through to a new era. The troops are in the
country and fighting there way up here. It creates a very different
atmosphere.

The Ba’ath party, currently led by Saddam Hussein, has been in power
for 34 years. Tariq Aziz told me the US will have to brainwash 25
million Iraqis because these people think exactly the same as Saddam
does.

Maybe he is wrong, maybe not.

For months, Iraqis have said officially and privately : "We will
fight the Americans, we will use guerrilla tactics, we will surprise
them."

But the Iraqi opposition has said : "This will be a pushover,
everyone wants to rebel against Saddam."

Now the reality is being played out on the battlefield.

We have to watch the reality now and some Iraqis are fighting and
the government does seem very determined. For me to see that and to
be criticised for saying the obvious is unfair.

But it has made me a target for my critics in the States who accuse
me of giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

I don’t want to give aid and comfort to the enemy - I just want to
be able to tell the truth.

I came to Baghdad with my crew because the Iraqi side needs to be
heard too.

It is clear the original timetable that America would be in Baghdad
by the end of March has fallen by the wayside.

There is clearly debate in the US about this, reinforcements are
being sent in and there are delays.

This doesn’t mean it is going badly. Every casualty is a loss but
they have been in limited numbers so far.

Every night and every day I hear the B-52s and the missiles
hammering the defences Baghdad.

Just like in Afghanistan and Vietnam, the US is bringing enormous
firepower to bear which it believes will grind the Iraqis down. I
have seen it before and it has been enormously effective. The US
optimism is justified.

On the other hand, at what cost to civilians ?

During the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, I entered a US-held town which
had been totally destroyed.

The Viet Cong had taken over and were threatening the commander’s
building so he called down an artillery strike which killed many of
his own men.

The Major with us asked : "How could this happen ?" A soldier replied :
"Sir, we had to destroy the town to save it."

The Bush and Blair administration does not want that label stuck on
this war, it is a liberation for them. But the problem is US Marines
at checkpoints are suspicious of every man, woman and child because
of the suicide bomb.

Already there is suspicion growing.

And in the south, there have not been popular rebellions and
uprisings. As the battle for Baghdad grows, the potential for
civilian casualties grows.

This is the spectre rising as this war continues. The US and Britain
have to figure this out.

I don’t think you can tell how it will end, there are many
scenarios. A siege of Baghdad... a special operations strike on
Saddam. Optimists in the Pentagon talk about an internal coup.

Who would have had believed Umm Qasr would hold out for six days or
US Marines directing traffic would be killed by a suicide bomber ?
This is more like the West Bank and Gaza and it could become like
that in some areas.

The US and Britain must avoid that scenario.

Forces come in, communities resist, then suicide bombing and
resistance from guerrillas.

Except the Iraqis will be putting up a stiffer fight than the
Palestinians because they are better armed.

We know the world, including many Americans, is ambivalent about
this war and I think it is essential to be here.

I’m not here to be a superstar. I have been there in 1991 and could
never be bigger than that.

Some reporters make judgments but that is not my style. I present
both sides and report what I see with my own eyes.

I don’t blame NBC for their decision because they came under great
commercial pressure from the outside.

And I certainly don’t believe the White House was responsible for my
sacking.

But I want to tell the story as best as I can, which makes it so
disappointing to be fired.