This one is wrenching. Many here have followed Michael Ware for the past 8 or more years as he was fearless in reporting from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan during the worst part of the wars and Iraqi occupancy and who was not afraid to speak out against the Bush* admin and call them on their overt lies. If you haven't heard from him lately, it is because he has been suffering from the effects of PTSD. In this week's Newsweek, Michael Ware, a former CNN correspondent, recalls the pain of war and the "lost love" who saved him.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-04-24/war-correspondent-michael-ware-on-the-pain-of-covering-combat-/?cid=hp:mainpromo9The news bludgeoned me on a sunny Australian morning. Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros had been killed on a rebel front, in a besieged city, bearing witness.
--snip--
In the field, where, as the soldiers say, "the meat meets the metal," I've found that I gravitate to photographers, the ones who come the closest to revealing the truth, even if we never get to the entire truth. In war, everyone lies; their government, our government, the rebels—even civilians lie through exaggeration or confusion. But what we can get is the shards of truth, like Tim's photo of a wretchedly filthy, dog-tired American grunt in the Korengal Valley, holding his face in his hand, or Chris' picture of a little girl with her parents' blood splattered over her dress, after American soldiers killed them at a Tal Afar checkpoint.
War photographers and reporters, of course, are not immune to this pain. But when you're in a conflict, you can't afford to think about how you're feeling. You're trying to capture the tremendous hurt of the war, but at the same time, you can't afford to feel it yourself. And unlike the soldiers, who live in an environment conditioned to deal with these things, war journalists often find themselves alone in the newsroom, with no one to share the experience with.
People ask, "Why do it?" At first, it was exciting to witness these forces of history colliding, and I found it hard to stand idly by. Eventually, I became so inured to the violence, the war became my normal.
--snip--
Those who have seen war are never the same again. We see the world through different eyes, and I consider that a privilege. I am the custodian of all these stories, and I belong to a fortunate tribe. I walk with ghosts.
***Much more... please go read at the link above*** :cry:
On edit, I meant to post in GD... I hope folks will find it nonetheless. Ware has had a lot of fans here--for good reason... I'm sure others have wondered what happened to him.
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