Bloomington native recalls days in Iraq

With the ongoing conflict in Iraq receiving so much news coverage, it is easy to forget that in addition to men and women in uniform, hundreds of American citizens face the dangers of an unstable Iraq to provide us with that news. One Bloomington native spent 10 days in Baghdad to send Americans information about the Iraq elections.\nDavid Shuster, news correspondent for NBC and MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," was in Utah when he first heard the news from higher-ups at MSNBC that he would be going to Baghdad to cover the Iraqi elections. Shuster wrote in his Baghdad diary that he faced "a few moments of trepidation," but he wasn't going to let his fears get in the way of taking advantage of such an opportunity. \nShuster's assignment was to cover the election for NBC's prime-time news stations. He made several broadcasts from Iraq for "Hardball with Chris Matthews," where he shared his experiences with the host. \nMaking the time-zone adjustment proved to be one of the most difficult aspects of Shuster's assignment. \n"It was difficult going over there, with your body's clock out of sync, and trying to keep up with news," Shuster said on the phone from his office in Washington, D.C. \nShuster was greeted by American soldiers, who intended to convey the message that everything was going as planned. \n"It was their job to kind of put on a happy face and let us know that everything is going well," Shuster said. "But we also met many soldiers who thought things looked pretty bleak and were wondering why they were still there."\nShuster said Iraqis were generally reluctant to talk to Americans, even members of the media. Many of the interviews Shuster conducted were arranged by NBC, and he questioned whether they elicited the majority of Iraqi opinion. \n"All the Iraqis seemed to want us gone -- the military and the media. But at the same time, they all seemed conscious that without American presence, their country could fall very easily into a bloody civil war," Shuster said. "There seemed to be a great sense of embarrassment and frustration that came with the inherent need for an American presence to help try to maintain peace." \nShuster also said the Iraqis who worked for American companies such as NBC hid their faces with ski masks and didn't tell their family or friends they worked for an American company for fear of being ostracized. Shuster wrote in his Baghdad diary that violence was aimed not only at American occupational forces and those perceived to be assisting them but also at candidates on the ballot. \n"Sunni insurgents have been targeting leaders of the Shia majority," Shuster wrote. \nHe also outlined strategies candidates had to adopt because of the necessity of "faceless campaigns." Candidates were forced to campaign almost exclusively through radio and television messages. \n"Door-to-door campaign events or rallies would be extremely dangerous," he wrote.\nAs a broadcast journalist, Shuster ran into problems carrying equipment around Baghdad, and he and his crew were not permitted to leave the green zone without a military escort. \n"Americans carrying television gear around Baghdad looks pretty conspicuous," Shuster said. \nShuster mentioned you have to be careful about where you go, and a tranquil day gives way very quickly to the sounds of war, as mortar attacks could be heard from the NBC compound. \n"We would hear the explosions, then rush to a window to see the giant plumes of smoke rising from the streets," Shuster wrote in his Baghdad diary. \nHe added that on the night before the election, with the city under curfew and roads blocked, they continued to hear gunshots and tank fire in the distance. \nShuster and his news crew conducted several broadcasts from the rooftop of the NBC compound, where they were told to take special measures when positioning cameramen. Shuster said military personnel feared the Blackhawk helicopter pilots doing their rounds might mistake the cameras for rocket-propelled grenade launchers or anti-aircraft weapons. \nAlthough he believes the Shiites' narrow margin of victory very easily could set the scene for a civil war that only would worsen conditions in an already bloody Iraq, Shuster was as optimistic as possible about the results of the election, he said.\n"It was promising to see such a great turnout despite the threatened violence," he said. "A successful election under those circumstances really was miraculous." \n-- Contact Staff Writer Pat Giese at pgiese@indiana.edu.