Shock, awe, death, joy and looting: how the Guardian covered the outbreak of the Iraq war
The Guardian's coverage of the Iraq War's outbreak in March 2003 included both embedded and independent journalists who documented the shock and awe campaign, civilian casualties, and the regime's collapse. The piece examines how different reporting approaches - from embedded journalists to Baghdad bloggers - captured varying perspectives on the invasion and its aftermath.
Summary
The Guardian's coverage of the Iraq War began with the March 21, 2003 'Land, Sea and Air Assault' headline, documenting the initial ground war and cruise missile bombardments on Baghdad. The newspaper deployed both embedded journalists like Audrey Gillen with British forces and independent reporters like Suzanne Goldenberg and photographer Sean Smith in Baghdad. Smith's photography particularly captured what Jon Snow called 'the indignity and smoky pointlessness of the Iraq conflict,' while working without standard protective equipment due to his fatalistic view of war's random nature. The paper covered the 'shock and awe' bombing campaign from the Palestine Hotel, with Goldenberg describing it as 'watching a gigantic video game.' James Meek worked as an unilateral journalist, gaining easier access to Iraqi civilians while sometimes relying on military units for support. The coverage included controversial decisions like publishing graphic photographs of bombing victims, which drew both praise and criticism. As Baghdad fell in April 2003, The Guardian documented both the toppling of Saddam's statue and the subsequent looting and lawlessness. The newspaper gave voice to young Iraqi perspectives through Baghdad blogger Salam Pax (Salam Abdul Munim) and interpreter-turned-journalist Raed Abdulahad, both of whom initially supported the invasion as necessary to remove Saddam but later questioned whether the intervention was worth the chaos that followed. A decade later, Abdulahad expressed regret, stating he would prefer returning to military dictatorship rather than the ongoing violence, believing Saddam's regime would have eventually collapsed naturally.
About this episode
In spring 2003, exuberance at the fall of Saddam was swiftly followed by a descent into deadly chaos. Whether moving independently or embedded with troops, Guardian reporters witnessed the violence on the ground By Ian Mayes. Read by Karl Queensborough. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
Key Insights
- The Guardian's editorial argued that the failed 'decapitation' strike on Saddam Hussein set an 'abominable precedent' for state-ordered assassination that could encourage unwelcome emulation by other nations
- Photographer Sean Smith deliberately avoided standard protective equipment like helmets and flak jackets not out of bravado, but due to his fatalistic belief in the random nature of war casualties
- Embedded journalist Audrey Gillen rarely used the pronoun 'we' when reporting on her unit, contradicting criticism that embedded reporters automatically identified with their host forces
- Iraqi blogger Salam Pax gained international following by writing irreverently about Saddam's regime in perfect idiomatic English while referencing David Bowie lyrics and Western culture, challenging assumptions about Iraqi society
- Former Iraqi interpreter Raed Abdulahad evolved from initially supporting the invasion as necessary to remove Saddam to later arguing that a decade later he would prefer returning to military dictatorship rather than enduring the ongoing violence and chaos
Topics
Transcript
This is The Guardian. Welcome to The Guardian Long Read, showcasing the best long-form journalism covering culture, politics and new thinking. For the text version of this and all our Long Reads, go to theguardian.com forward slash long read. The Guardian's 4am edition on Friday the 21st of March carried the headline, Land, Sea and Air Assault. The report was by Julian Borger in Washington and Rory McCarthy in Camp Asselia on the outskirts of Doha, the capital of Qatar. It opened, The ground war began in Iraq last night as British and American Marines stormed beaches on the Gulf Coast in an assault on the southeastern city of Basra, while explosions lit up Baghdad, under a heavy bombardment by…
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