 |
         
|
CBS led with the 10,000-strong advance on the deserted streets of Baqubah, the capital of Diyala Province. David Martin at the Pentagon narrated footage filed by producer Phil Ittner, embedded with US troops. "They are on foot because, believe it or not, it is safer." A roadside bomb could kill half a dozen soldiers inside an armored vehicle. "Spaced out, the worst any bomb could do is kill one or two." Ittner's footage included a guided missile strike on a boobytrapped house and the harmless detonation of a roadside bomb at an intersection. "How successful has this new offensive against al-Qaeda been so far?" CBS anchor Katie Couric asked correspondent Lara Logan in Baghdad. "It is really too early to say" given how adept al-Qaeda has proved at "melting away from the battlefield only to appear somewhere else."
ABC and NBC both observed the United Nation's World Refugee Day in covering the humanitarian crisis caused by the war. NBC's Dawna Friesen surveyed that "total contrast in culture and climate" as Sweden prepares to grant political asylum to 20,000 Iraqi war refugees this year, almost all of whom paid smugglers to guide them to safety. Fees range from $10,000 to $50,000. Given that price "most people are middle class and educated." For ABC's A Closer Look, Bob Woodruff contrasted the plight of refugees nearer home, in Syria and Jordan. Damascus has an open door policy, yet refuses work permits and ownership of property: "Most are surviving on whatever savings they have." Amman says "economic and security concerns have forced them to tighten borders" with men under age 40 "virtually shut out."
On Monday, NBC's Martin Fletcher lamented how kidnapping threats prevented him from reporting from the Gaza Strip. So "surprise" was the reaction by his colleague Tom Aspell when he walked through the tunnel at the Israeli border and found "no more masked Hamas gunmen. Instead the fighters are now wearing police uniforms." Marketplaces were crowded with "plenty of local fruits and vegetables." United Nations monitors warned that shortages of imports, such as toiletries and medicines, will soon be seen. "But right now, Hamas is in charge--and totally hostile to Israel and the United States."
Rounding out regional coverage, CBS' Logan offered another follow-up to Monday's Exclusive on the abandoned boys at a Baghdad orphanage. "It is obvious how much better off" they are now at a second home, where the soldiers who rescued them came to visit. "The plight of these boys has outraged Iraqis with excerpts of our report aired constantly on local TV." Logan showed us clips from both al-Arabiyah TV and al-Sharqiyah TV that have forced the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs to speak out. "He lashed out at the United States calling America 'Iraq's enemy.'" The minister claimed that "these boys are perfectly healthy and our report was a lie."
You must be logged in to this website to leave a comment. Please click here to log in so you can participate in the discussion.
