Under Fire: Untold Stories from the Front Line of the Iraq War [Hardcover]

Reuters (Author), Stephen Jukes (Author), Peter Millership (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2004

Here are the dramatic personal stories of sixteen seasoned Reuters war correspondents--straight from the frontlines. It offers an unprecedented panoramic view of the war's events--and, above all, its human impact. Readers get a glimpse of the intensity of civilians' wartime experiences: Iraq's blinding sandstorms, the taking of Baghdad airport, the danger of covering the war as a "unilateral," outside coalition protection. Join correspondent Nadim Ladki as he survives the frightening supervision of the Iraqi Information Ministry and the bombardment of Baghdad...and makes a remarkable escape. Or with Adrian Croft, embedded with the U.S. Marines as they charge into artillery fire just hundreds of yards into Iraqi territory, as they assault Umm Qasr, as they raise the flag and begin searching for weapons of mass destruction. Readers learn how Central Command crafted the tactics that won the war, and hear the experience from the frontline as American paratroopers meet Kurdish peshmerga fighters and discover how ordinary Iraqis really received the invaders. Organized chronologically, this book contains gallery of 40 superb black-and-white photos, accompanied by the photographers' own stories.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The tales missed-or overlooked-by big media during the Iraq war unfold here as a dozen Reuters correspondents share their eyewitness stories. The accounts take the reader from the crosshairs view of a U.S. soldier to the streets of Cairo, where Caroline Drees witnesses a people's humiliation in the wake of a swift American drive through Arabia. Luke Baker comments on the pumping refrains of urban rap and garage bands that apparently kept many a young American warrior awake at the wheel of a Humvee during the long trek through sandstorms and the creepy quiet of the desert. As Samia Nakhoul reveals, the residual effects of war often have more to do with the horrors of living than dying: thousands of pregnant Iraqi women flocked to already ill-equipped hospitals days before the war to have cesareans in order to avoid labor during an attack. Other simple, chilling truths of the conflict emerge. Mike Collet-White describes the Kurds' joy over Saddam's defeat, followed by their vengeful killing of Arabs. Saul Hudson profiles the People's Mujahadeen, which the U.S. government cannot decide whether to peg as terrorists or employ as instigators of regime change in Iran. These affecting narratives document the small details of war-ravaged life, society and the human condition, and tell a more personal, gripping story than the bombing missions and flag-raising reported on the nightly news during the invasion.
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From the Back Cover

"This is a tough-minded look inside the war as it really was and is superb war reporting by one of the world's premier news organizations."

Dan Rather, CBS Evening News

From the front line of the Iraq war, Under Fire showcases the gripping personal stories of Reuters correspondents who capture the mood of the soldiers that fought in the conflict and the ordinary people caught up in it.

It offers unique insights into how the war was fought, how journalists operated and how they felt about what they went through and witnessed.

The Reuters team describes what it was like to be under fire in Iraq, to be "embedded" with U.S. troops and to witness at first hand the drama of the fastest armored push in history. They tell of fierce desert battles, civilian suffering, ordinary Iraqis' reactions to the invasion force and the symbolic toppling of Saddam's statue in Baghdad.

There are also compelling and intense accounts of operating under U.S. bombardment in Baghdad. These include the death of Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk, the wounding of Reuters staff and the story of the badly injured Iraqi boy who became an international symbol of civilian suffering.

Through vivid writing, dramatic pictures and informative maps and graphics, Under Fire offers new insights into how the Iraq campaign unfolded and recounts riveting and moving moments ranging from Baghdad to the desert battlefield.

Highlighting the human side of war, the book charts the seesaw of Marines' emotions--from raw fear to heady elation--as they stormed to Baghdad. Detailed accounts tell what it was like to hear the crackle of threatening gunfire, to struggle into a chemical protection suit or to choke in a sandstorm.

The narrative offers a rare glimpse into how ordinary Iraqis reacted to life after Saddam and the mixed emotions they felt about U.S. and British forces--were they liberators or occupiers?

Seen through the eyes of the Arab world, a different war emerged. Under Fire examines how countries in the Middle East reacted to and perceived the U.S. military victory.

The Pentagon's strategy also included the PR war. Under Fire poses ethical questions about the concept of embedding journalists with the military and examines the challenge of extracting truth from the fog of war.

• Intense personal accounts

What Reuters journalists witnessed and went through

• The fury of the U.S. military's Baghdad bombardment

Devastation alongside suffering

• With U.S. Marines: sandstorm and engagement

Up close to danger, overwhelming firepower and the fog of war

• Being there: raw fear, boredom and elation

The emotional roller-coaster of soldiering, desert pause to thunder-run

• What Iraqis really thought: how the Arab world reacted

Invasion, liberation and the aftermath

• A chaotic aftermath: looting, lawlessness in Baghdad

Starving tigers, anarchy and anger

Reuters operates the world's largest news agency network and is one of the leading providers of news text, video, graphics, and pictures. With some 2,500 journalists, photographers, and TV professionals based in some 197 bureaus around the globe, Reuters covers the news as it breaks. Relying on a 150-year-old reputation for accuracy, speed, and freedom from bias, Reuters transmits more than two million words daily in 26 languages.

"Through powerful personal accounts, Under Fire gives an inside look at how this war was a watershed for journalism in more ways than one as spin doctors and propagandists, on all sides, raised their art to new levels. It is filled with lessons for coverage of future conflicts. This is a tough-minded look inside the war as it really was and is superb war reporting by one of the world's premier news organizations."

Dan Rather, CBS Evening News

"Reuters has produced a marvelous book on the Iraq campaign filled with gripping front-line reportage as well as sharp discussion of what it was like to cover the fighting both as a reporter 'embedded' with the U.S. military and as a 'unilateral' operating alone. The book also gives a riveting analysis of reaction to the conflict in the Arab world."

Peter Bergen, author of Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden

"First class reporting and analysis from the unsung heroes of Reuters."

Martin Bell, OBE, BBC reporter and author of Through Gates of Fire: A Journey into World Disorder

More than 150 Reuters reporters, photographers, and TV news staffers covered the Iraq war: some embedded with coalition forces, some inside Baghdad, others traveling around the country as independent "unilaterals." Under Fire provides a platform for Reuters writers and photojournalists to give personal accounts of what they witnessed and went through covering the Iraq war.

ISBN: 0-13-142397-5

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Reuters Prentice Hall (January 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131423975
• ISBN-13: 978-0131423978
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,254,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Misleading Title, July 20, 2004

By 

historybuff - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under Fire: Untold Stories from the Front Line of the Iraq War (Hardcover)

The title of this work is very misleading. I was hoping to read about ordinary troops in extraordinary combat situations. I was hoping to read about events that may have been classified but were then declassified to the public. Instead, what I read was a highly slanted liberal-biased approach to the Iraq War. I read more about how horrible the conditions were for the reporters than anything else. I listened to them drone on about the deficincies of embedded reporting.
If they wished to write about embedded reporters during the war, that's fine. But maybe next time they should change the title, and keep all political and cultural biases out. If you wish to know more about the war and the troops who fought it, I recommend "War Stories' by Oliver North.
The reasoning for three stars? Well, minus the misleading title, it was well written, covers many aspects of the war, and is a fairly easy read. But since I'm not interested in how a reporter had sand in his hair for 25 days, I can't give it a higher rating.