Where War Lives: A Journey into the Heart of WarA Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist takes us on a personal and historic journey from Mogadishu through Rwanda to Afghanistan and Iraq. With the click of a shutter the world came to know Staff Sgt. William David Cleveland Jr. as a desecrated corpse. In the split-second that Paul Watson had to choose between pressing the shutter release or turning away, the world went quiet and Watson heard Cleveland whisper: “If you do this, I will own you forever.” And he has. Paul Watson was born a rebel with one hand, who grew up thinking it took two to fire an assault rifle, or play jazz piano. So he became a journalist. At first, he loved war. He fed his lust for the bang-bang, by spending vacations with guerilla fighters in Angola, Eritrea, Sudan, and Somalia, and writing about conflicts on the frontlines of the Cold War. Soon he graduated to assignments covering some of the world’s most important conflicts, including South Africa, Rwanda, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Watson reported on Osama bin Laden’s first battlefield victory in Somalia. Unwittingly, Watson’s Pulitzer Prize–winning photo of Staff Sgt. David Cleveland—whose Black Hawk was shot down over the streets of Mogadishu—helped hand bin Laden one of his earliest propaganda coups, one that proved barbarity is a powerful weapon in a modern media war. Public outrage over the pictures of Cleveland’s corpse forced President Clinton to order the world’s most powerful military into retreat. With each new beheading announced on the news, Watson wonders whether he helped teach the terrorists one of their most valuable lessons. Much more than a journalist’s memoir, Where War Lives connects the dots of the historic continuum from Mogadishu through Rwanda to Afghanistan and Iraq. |
Contents
3 | |
Prologue ix | 20 |
The Beginning of the | 21 |
Dead Mans Dance | 29 |
Son ofa Soldier | 57 |
Looking for Trouble | 59 |
Combat Tourist | 71 |
Guardian Angel | 87 |
Making Enemies | 261 |
The Labyrinth | 279 |
Friendly Fire | 297 |
Exorcism | 313 |
War in Peace | 329 |
A Note on Quotes | 337 |
Related Reading | 339 |
341 | |
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Afghan Afghanistan Ahmad Aideed Aideed’s air strikes Al Qaeda Al-Ittihad Albanian American soldiers army asked attack Azhar battle Black Hawk bombs border called camera checkpoint Cleveland commander corpse couldn’t Dai Chopan dead didn’t door drive Emina ethnic Albanian eyes fighters fighting fire floor foreign front gorillas grenade Grinker guerrillas gunmen guns Gutale Harun head hundred insisted Iraqi Jana journalists Kabul Kandahar Khalil Khareen kids killed knew Kosovo Kurdish Laden lived looked madrassa man’s Massoud militant militia Mogadishu months Mosul mountain gorillas Mullah Najib NATO night Northern Alliance Pakistan Pashtun police pulled Qaeda reporter Rwanda Sahafi Serbian Serbs shouted Somali someone stopped story street Taliban Talibs talk thought told took traffic circle tried trying U.S. forces U.S. military U.S. troops village waiting walked wanted watch wounded