Kevin writes "But it seems somewhat cyncial, unforgivingly opportunistic to feed a career on carnage of war. But we do. If I'm forced to rationalize it, i'll do it like this--the motivation will make me to work harder to take more chances on the story."

Perhaps further motivation for you is the fact that you're providing so many people with straight-shooting facts and personal observations of the struggles of the Kurds and activities in Northern Iraq. I'm grateful to learn more about the people and have confidence that you are neither sugar-coating or avoiding unpopular issues. It's frustrating to sift through other print and broadcast media trying to decipher what is real and what is propoganda submitted to throw off those "evil doers." Just wanted you to know I appreciate the honest, real, human stories you tell.

The Brits are becoming so annoying. All you ever hear from them is "The US was late to WW11" and "The US didn't really go to the moon."

Have an original thought, will you?

Kevin can we hear from you on this site. keep up the good work!! Write a hello if you can to let all on this site a thumbs up your o.k. & safe take care Donna.

Graham 'Baka yaro'

You didn't denigrate the Canadians, British nor the New Zealanders, etc, etc. So how is it they would be relevant to my response to you? However, if your ungrateful comment had been directed at any of them, I would have responded similarly.

On your other point, a threat in the Pacific is hardly a grounds for entering a war in Europe.

I get the impression that even though the US involvement would have meant Western Europe's subjugation to tyrannical powers, twice over, you would be perfectly happy because it would satisfy your penchant for Russian and German.

But, I understand your mindset all to well - certainly anything would be better than having your skin saved by those successful Americans.

Sean 'Dubya'
For your info,Sean,I am fluent in both of these languages,and also Spanish.Pearl Harbour wasn't a direct threat??? My grandfather spent five years in a German pow camp.He may have spent less had Uncle Sam thrown their lot in earlier.As for American war graves,what about the Canadians,British,New Zealand,Australian,etc etc? America throws it's weight around when it suits them.I am not anti-American,I just think their involvement is for all the wrong reasons.All war is madness.

Glanz,
When are Canadians ever going to realize that America is not responsible for our inferiority complex? When will we realize that criticizing, in such self evidently groundless ways, a fallible yet basically decent nation like the US only impacts our own dignity in a detrimental way?
I'm growing increasingly ashamed of my fellow Canadians - and no, the urban myth that the world loves visiting inconsequential Canadians and despises the prouds Americans offers me no relief.

Grow a spine will you?

Sean Walker
Toronto, ON, Canada

Graham from Scotland,
I hate to participate in this tangent but your effortlessly idiotic comment compels me.
Thank goodness my grand neighbours to the south were roused to save Europe from itself in WWII - Otherwise you'd not be able to make your ungrateful comment.
American's weren't directly threatened, but they came to sacrifice one in every fifteen boys they sent to defend your smug ass. But forgive me; perhaps you rue the lost opportunity to have learned German or Russian?
Before you make more puerile comments, consider the endless rows of American graves you defile with them.

Sean Walker
Toronto, ON, Canada

Glanz Shame on you.How can you say that about your neighbours to the south.The Americans obviously feel so guilty about being late in pitching in with the rest of us during WW2,that they are determined to be first in line to start WW3!!

My first visit to a blog. Kevin you offer a sense of the unfiltered story at your own perrel I should think. Your insights and observations are helpful. Keep up the good work.
Thanks from Thousand Oaks, Ca, USA

Just to clear it up I am Kevin H.

Glanz. Be glad you arent in iraq with your family being murdered by saddam. Big brothers arent necessarily a bad thing.

All I know is that Kevin is a total hottie

As I write this, the war probably will have begun. Thank you for the images. Thank you for the feel of the people and the place. This is so sad. I am happy to be here, safe in Canada, far from the war, and far from the looming image of Big Brother down South.

Edited by author 03-19-2003 09:51 AM
Thanks from Cologne,Germany.

Geraldo be damned, it *is* important for us to be thinking about the way that journalism is created, especially in Pentagon-orchestrated theaters of war. IF ONLY we could have had journo blogs during the Gulf War. Course, I'd have to vomit a lot if it was Geraldo...

Godspeed, Kevin. Blog on.

Traditional media serves many masters - the editor(s), the publisher(s), the company that owns the media source, the advertisers, even just the constraints and priorities of "other" news - i.e. what gets to be on Page 1 is dependant on many factors - most outside of the control of the journalist.

A blog, in contrast, is generally an individual voice (or a group of voices), yes still serving some "masters" but generally far fewer than in "traditional" media - in large part because the costs are significently lower.

Further, a blog is generally more a commentary or opinion piece than "hard" news - so different rules apply (in terms of language, tone, focus etc).

The negative is that all these other voices and forces do serve a valuable purpose - often they clarify the journalist's original writing (short is harder than long), sometimes they add valuable insight/information.

Here in Chicago, there is a "traditional" media version of this conflict - the local papers have each launched a cheaper tabloid (Red Eye by the Chicago Tribune and Red Streak by the Chicago Sun Times) both have far less editing than their parent papers, and often run stories in their original as submitted by the journalist form - the journalists themselves have commented that this is not always a good thing...

I think some of it is also the emphasis on the medium over the message.

That somehow this is important because it's a blog, not because of the content that Kevin is posting. Somehow we're lulled into believing this is more real or true than traditional media.

And I completely agree that this is a problem with a lot of traditional media. But sites like this are writing the rules of professional journalist blogs (jlogs?) now and I think maybe the rules should be different and we should look at the content with a more critical eye?

Why is a blog different than a regular story filed via TV, news website, print journalism, etc? What makes a blog more or less true?

I'm disturbed that this blog is going to be really popular and that it will overshadow whatever other stories that Kevin files with CNN.

I valid concern, I suppose, but what's the alternative? DDOS kevinsites.com? I think what you're running into isn't a failing of blogging, but rather a failing of tradional media. It's CNN's choice whether to emphasize Wolf qua Wolf when they've got nothing else to show. That's the treachery of a 24 hour news service. The beauty of blogs is that they're only updated when the blogger has something to say (one hopes, anyway).

First of all, I wanna say that this isn't a personal attack on Kevin Sites. This is more about a trend that's worrisome to me.

I'm disturbed that this blog is going to be really popular and that it will overshadow whatever other stories that Kevin files with CNN.

I'm worried that this will be Arthur Kent all over again. That this marks the beginning of a new kind of Reality TV News. It strikes me that this is frighteningly like the way the US controlled access during the original gulf war: keep the reporters in controlled areas and make it more about personalities than actual substantive stories about the war itself. "Look at Bernie Shaw holed up in the Hilton. Isn't he brave? Look, it's Geraldo and he's wearing a flak-jacket."
 
At it's worst, it is reactive journalism that puts the focus on a tv journalist's personal minutia than it does about stories that give us real context for this war. We're bound to get dramatic descriptions filled with tracer fire and Geraldo-style "bravery" from the TV journalists that piques our purient interest in seeing things "live from Bagdad" that we'll completely forgive the utter lack of context or relevance of the story. We'll start to believe that a shaky handy-cam signifies the "real story" and the well-researched story won't be real enough. "Bagdad Witch Project" anyone?
 
I *do* think that blogs are important and I am glad that blogs are coming in from all over the place to add to the voices that we get about the war. I am particularly glad to see that we're getting blogs from Iraqi bloggers.

Edited by author 03-18-2003 07:37 AM
Darkness is falling. The US' moral standing among the nations of the world is ebbing. Armies are about to invade a sovereign, independent state in the Middle-East, that is not at war with anybody. The last time this happened, ten years ago, the agressor became an outcast in the world community. By attacking Iraq, President Bush is regrettably lowering himself, and his mostly apathetic nation, to the level of the Butcher of Baghdad. The world mourns the loss of sanity in Washington, as well as the loss of human lives in Iraq.

Keep up the good work Kevin, and stay safe!

Kris
Scotland

Xeni ----- there are more Internet cafes in northern Iraq then inside Iraq. Thy have even broadband sattelite connection in Hewler (Arbil). Kevin was in Halabja when he mentiond poor internet connection. Halbja is an area close to the terrorist camp of the group "Ansar-al -islam", which Colin Powell adressed in his speech in FN for about a month ago.
 These extremist oppose usage of everything from tv, music recorder to internet...
So we hope to see more picture on this blog in the future.

Stay safe, and good job :)

Hi, Dana -- to answer your question about how Kevin posts to the blog: All of Kevin's writing on the blog is 100% Kevin's.

As you might imagine, Internet connectivity in the areas where he's covering news right now is very poor (or simply unavailable), so posting text or images directly to the blog via Blogger's web interface generally isn't practical for him. He is able to forward us text and image posts by e-mail, which we plug into the blog on his behalf.

Kevinsites.net runs on Blogger, which does offer a function through which one can post to a blog by sending an e-mail to a special e-mail address. Unfortunately that function is known to be pretty buggy and unreliable, and given the special circumstances under which Kevin is writing and publishing to his blog, we don't want to chance missing anything he's trying to post.

Audblog posts are, as David U. explained, phoned in directly to the blog by Kevin via his satellite phone.

--XJ

I would urge you to be extremly prudent around the oil field, i got a really bad feeling about this. Theses fields may not be 'only' rigged with explosives. Don't take any chance, stay clear from theses zones at least unless the troops have secured the area. Thanks for a great job reporting the events anyway.

I'm sad today...alarmed and frankly confused. I absolutely object to this war, but am troubled with how the global community is dealing with the present situation. The word "cooperation" has transformed into "multi-lateral." That's kind of like having sex with your clothes on.

Rhetoric abounds, but action is nowhere to be seen, aside from Mr. Bush's sword rattling. I admire the courage of the people who are at risk to "get the story," but wonder what engine they ultimately feed, regardless of their politics. Think about Chile in 1973. This is different only with respect to Bush's complete openness about his plans to remove a leader, no matter what the cost.

The difference in the media between the two "actions" is that one war didn't make money for press, the other does, and will. Your participation in some ways feeds the power of terror. If none of you showed up, the guns would fire less brightly.

I pray that none of you is injured in your dedication to tell stories. Just think hard about your role in the larger one.

Hopefully,
Michael Shea

Edited by author 03-17-2003 10:47 PM
"Our correspondents (BBC) inside Baghdad, say they have seen few preparations for war." 03/17/03
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2856395.stm

There's nothing like the truth--so realize that my next comment fully acknowledges the importance of journalism--for good and ill.

I don't know whether you deliberately or inadvertently raised this issue: But of course I thought when reading this post about the fact that you and others are benefitting from war. That careers are made on war. And that there could--in some cases--be something morally problematic about that.

Thank you for this weblog! This is exactly what my friends and I have been looking for.

Thank from Las Palmas, Jalisco, Mexico.

Now that there seems no way of silencing the drums of war, I would like to say, as an ancient European king said to an invader: ‘May your morning be a beautiful one, may the sun shine on your soldiers’ armour, for in the afternoon, I will defeat you.’

Kevin,

How many other "serious" reporters, that you are aware of, use blogs to relay news/immediate info to their readers?

What are you hearing, regarding the Northern Irag vs. Turkey scenario. Given the recent Turkish hold (at least to this point!) on allowing the establishment of US troops on the Turkish/Irag border

My feelings on this situation, is that the northern Iraqi people as well as the US, are better of in not allowing Turkish forces to be part of the attacking allied forces -which would otherwise allow essntially for a kind of (carte blanche)for Turkey, on northern Iraq's territory/resources and it's People!
Since Turkey backed away in allowing US troops to stage a norhtern military presence, this will allow the US to hold Turkey at arms length, when it comes to Iraq and thus will help greatly in avoiding one huge Northern Iraq/Turkey catastrophe/civil war/slaughter! What are your thoughts on this!

Kevin, stay low and keep one eye to your back.

wherever you go i hope you stay out of harms way, i'm so proud of you. seeing these messages helps me to understand what drives you to do this job. we are all so fortunate that you have the courage to get in the middle of this and risk everything to tell the story. come home safe.

I truly admire your guts.

In the words of Hill Street Blues, "just be careful out there."

A terrific use of the blogging phenomena. Although "enjoy" is not a word I would apply to this, I find it very informative. Truly, this will be the best coevred war ever.

Thank you, Kevin and Crew

Vision is the path, not the promise.

With the future more frightening than ever, it is imperative that the united nations is viewed as a legitimate foundation of power. Our contry behaving in this
manner not only destroys that, it destroys twenty years of progress getting to this point. The world is not our responsibility, the world is the world's responsibility. This is not about democracy, it is about oil and everyone knows it. Hiding behind the face of democracy when hundreds of thousands of lives are on the line is not democracy, it is hypocrisy. And our government should be ashamed for wearing that mask. If we as citizens need to see women and children standing in the streets of Baghdad waving small American flags as the tanks and cameras roll through, to free OURSELVES from the stock market and the unemployment lines and the fact that the majority of the world is growing to hate us, then we need to examine the meaning of freedom. No one is arguing that Saddam is anything other than a tyrant, but behaving like a tyrant to disarm a tyrant is gasoline in the fires of hatred. Always has been, always will be.

Keep your insight flowing Kevin, and be safe. The truth can make a difference.

Dana --

Xeni, John or Kevin himself may be able to give a better answer but here's how I think we have it setup:

1) For the audio blogs, he uses his satellite phone and it uploads directly.

2) For the text posts, he writes them ahead of time, and when it comes time to post to the site, he just copies the story into the story box all at once.

3) The "warboy" stories were sent a few days ago via email and have been put formatted and posted on the site by Xeni.

I hope that helps. This site is truly a great source of real information about what it is like in Iraq right now and it will only get better. Be sure to tell your peers and colleagues.

-david u.

Question. Did you type this into the box, as I'm typing now, or write it in Word (or something like it) and then post it at once?

I ask only because this is really first-class writing, but you're supposed to be a TV journalist, hence more interested in pictures than in text.

The text is great. Really, really great stuff. Great writing. Give yourself a hand.

Do you have to leave? I thought of you as Bush gave his address, saying that he suggests all journalists - among others - leave the area. How are you feeling right now? If I put myself in your shoes (as best I could), I think I'd be torn between my passion for journalism and my natural instinct for self-preservation. I think I'd have some fear, but hopefully wouldn't live IN my fear. God bless you.

Am glad you're guest blog - v.timely. Like the unedited, straight from where it's happening feel to your posts. Interesting. Informative. Thank you. Stay safe.

thank you for having the bollocks to give it straight instead of the regular media's readers digest version or worse yet the censored version.
check out project censored. good site.

Thank you guys 4 your front-line perspective. Stay safe.

It looks, as the old shaggy dog goes, like the fit is about to hit the shan. Your blog is a first, bringing honest, first hand news about an evolving event of national importance. It is phenomenal. Thank you.

Stay low and move fast.

Thank you. Stay safe. Stay independent. Tell us about the "embedded" journalists if you get a chance.

Hey hello,
You are living out there on the edge of adrenaline and in the middle of uncertainty. Anticipation is the hardest thing to get through. Once the action starts the body and mind take turns. Keep telling your story. We need to hear it.

God be with you.

Keep away from the American terrorists. They're the really frightening ones. Stay safe.

You are a true hero and journalist. I read your blog every day now. Keep safe and "Beware of Iraqians baring gifts" (You'll get that if you're a dork like me . . . )

As with the others, stay safe. A dead journalist is no jounalist. But keep us informed and I would like to know the reaction of the Iraqians you encounter along the way. We saw joy in the faces of the people of Afghanistan after the Taliban was defeated and we yearn for the same stories from the people of Iraq. Good Luck and God be with you.

 You are a real hero....

Saddam wan`t attack south kurdistan, he will waite and see the upcoming war between the Kurds and the Turks,,, so Kevin you are prety safe in Iraqi kurdistan.

Was in Zahko back in '94 with CJTF

If you've made any Kurd friends, stay with them they'll keep you as safe as they are.

The borders are likely to be heavily travelled in the first few days

Good luck

I think we are hours away rather than days from war. I just can't see Saddam waiting for Bush to give him one last chance. Saddam will strike first. Stay safe.

Keep safe and thank you for the updates. I too feel that the "war" is going to start tonight US time. Most everyone on Radio has your link and look foreward to the news.
I-5@msn.com

Edited by author 03-17-2003 02:51 PM
i read your blog religiously now. you are the eyes and ears that go beyond network media and they don't seem to answer many questions for me these days. i am anxious to learn more and pray for everyone's safety, but it seems pathetically insignificant in the course of events that are beyond our control. i am on the edge of my seat with you, and all that i can do here, in my corner of the world, is w-a-i-t.
furiousmuse dot com

Please stay safe. You're a hero as all the other journos are. Your accounts are fascinating yet frightening at the same time. Please be careful.

What a great plan !! I've linked to your site from Stage Left

Great use of blog. Great value. Please be careful and keep safe.

Good stuff. Please try to keep it up. Thanks

Do be safe -- I am eager to read your posts, if your unexpurgated site can stay alive through the media blackout that will inevitably occur as the war begins. I admire your work and hope for your safety in the war zone.

I admire your courage and your zeal ... be safe.