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American Morning
Dangerous Assignment
Aired March 18, 2003 - 09:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: When and if the war begins, and soon with each passing hour, it looks we're dropping the word "if" and only using "when," hundreds of journalists will have access to fighting on the front lines. They are, to use the military phrase, imbedded with their units.
Hampton Sides, a contributor to the "New Yorker" magazine, he went through a week of training. He writes about the imbed life in the current issue of his magazine, and Hampton Sides is now our guest live in Doha, Qatar to talk about his experience.
We should point out as we say, good afternoon to you, Hampton that you dropped out after about a week and are no longer in that program. What changed your mind?
HAMPTON SIDES, CONTRIBUTOR, "THE NEW YORKER": Yes, I am an imbed deserter, and you know, it was a curious week, because we had one week to kind of think about what we were about to experience. And we sat around in hotels, spooking each other with ghost stories about sarin gas and VX and what were the chances of something horrible happening. And then we actually -- you said we had one week, but we actually only had one day of training, and that day of training is what changed my mind.
It became apparent to me in a weird way in this war, we hope that Saddam Hussein has the weapons. We want him to have weapons, because if he doesn't, it sort of invalidates the purpose of the war. And it occurs to me, we weren't prepared if an attack were to happen. I had one hour of training. I was just getting acquainted with my mask. I didn't even know the part of the mask, and then suddenly, we were going to be very quickly in an imbed situation. So I bowed out gracefully before it was too late.
ZAHN: Yes, were the only one who has dropped out to this point, or do you know of others? And the second part of that question is this, was there a single moment that made you change your mind to leave?
SIDES: Yes, yes, well, I know that there were a lot of people who declined. I don't know if there was anyone who declined like I did, at the very last possible moment, when the buses were coming to get me. And really the moment that was I guess the telling thing for me is when there was a discussion about what do we do if we are feeling sick and nauseated and we're going to throw up in our gas mask? This is actually a serious conversation that took place, because these nerve agents can cause you to be quite sick. And it was very clear that this is a situational fine point that the instructors had never confronted before, one of many situations like this, and I frankly got spooked, and I guess I decided that I was a chemical coward.
I think all of us, all across the world, are anxious about this possibility, but, no, I don't think anyone was more anxious than the imbeds.
ZAHN: Hampton, listen, we only have a few seconds left here. Do you believe the Pentagon will get out of this what they intend, putting 500 journalists in battle to give viewers around the world a first-hand look about how the U.S. military operates?
SIDES: Well, I think it hearkens back to World War II when there were a lot of, you know, situations where reporters were getting heroes and getting great stories, roaming the battlefields. But I think that, you know, it's a difficult situation, because I think a lot of these guys are going to feel indebted to the Marines and the soldiers that they're -- you know, that -- who are basically, these guys are protecting them and going to save their lives if the situation arises that way. So it's going to be very hard for journalists to maintain objectivity in this situation.
ZAHN: Hampton Sides, a writer with the "New Yorker," on his experience imbedding with the U.S. military recently. Thank you for your time here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 18, 2003 - 09:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: When and if the war begins, and soon with each passing hour, it looks we're dropping the word "if" and only using "when," hundreds of journalists will have access to fighting on the front lines. They are, to use the military phrase, imbedded with their units.
Hampton Sides, a contributor to the "New Yorker" magazine, he went through a week of training. He writes about the imbed life in the current issue of his magazine, and Hampton Sides is now our guest live in Doha, Qatar to talk about his experience.
We should point out as we say, good afternoon to you, Hampton that you dropped out after about a week and are no longer in that program. What changed your mind?
HAMPTON SIDES, CONTRIBUTOR, "THE NEW YORKER": Yes, I am an imbed deserter, and you know, it was a curious week, because we had one week to kind of think about what we were about to experience. And we sat around in hotels, spooking each other with ghost stories about sarin gas and VX and what were the chances of something horrible happening. And then we actually -- you said we had one week, but we actually only had one day of training, and that day of training is what changed my mind.
It became apparent to me in a weird way in this war, we hope that Saddam Hussein has the weapons. We want him to have weapons, because if he doesn't, it sort of invalidates the purpose of the war. And it occurs to me, we weren't prepared if an attack were to happen. I had one hour of training. I was just getting acquainted with my mask. I didn't even know the part of the mask, and then suddenly, we were going to be very quickly in an imbed situation. So I bowed out gracefully before it was too late.
ZAHN: Yes, were the only one who has dropped out to this point, or do you know of others? And the second part of that question is this, was there a single moment that made you change your mind to leave?
SIDES: Yes, yes, well, I know that there were a lot of people who declined. I don't know if there was anyone who declined like I did, at the very last possible moment, when the buses were coming to get me. And really the moment that was I guess the telling thing for me is when there was a discussion about what do we do if we are feeling sick and nauseated and we're going to throw up in our gas mask? This is actually a serious conversation that took place, because these nerve agents can cause you to be quite sick. And it was very clear that this is a situational fine point that the instructors had never confronted before, one of many situations like this, and I frankly got spooked, and I guess I decided that I was a chemical coward.
I think all of us, all across the world, are anxious about this possibility, but, no, I don't think anyone was more anxious than the imbeds.
ZAHN: Hampton, listen, we only have a few seconds left here. Do you believe the Pentagon will get out of this what they intend, putting 500 journalists in battle to give viewers around the world a first-hand look about how the U.S. military operates?
SIDES: Well, I think it hearkens back to World War II when there were a lot of, you know, situations where reporters were getting heroes and getting great stories, roaming the battlefields. But I think that, you know, it's a difficult situation, because I think a lot of these guys are going to feel indebted to the Marines and the soldiers that they're -- you know, that -- who are basically, these guys are protecting them and going to save their lives if the situation arises that way. So it's going to be very hard for journalists to maintain objectivity in this situation.
ZAHN: Hampton Sides, a writer with the "New Yorker," on his experience imbedding with the U.S. military recently. Thank you for your time here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
