Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Who is killing the journalists of Basra?

Four journalists have been killed in recent weeks in Basra, which appears to be the most dangerous city in the world for reporters. Another ugly fact: Over the last 10 years, sixteen employees of the Al-Sharqiya channel have been killed. Meanwhile, lots of bombs also killing people in Baghdad. And nasty little Tarmiyah, too. David ...

Ramzi al-Shaban/AFP/Getty Images
Ramzi al-Shaban/AFP/Getty Images
Ramzi al-Shaban/AFP/Getty Images

Four journalists have been killed in recent weeks in Basra, which appears to be the most dangerous city in the world for reporters.

Four journalists have been killed in recent weeks in Basra, which appears to be the most dangerous city in the world for reporters.

Another ugly fact: Over the last 10 years, sixteen employees of the Al-Sharqiya channel have been killed.

Meanwhile, lots of bombs also killing people in Baghdad. And nasty little Tarmiyah, too. David Petraeus meditates on that in a piece here. Best line: "As important as the surge of forces was, however, the most important surge was what I termed ‘the surge of ideas’ — the changes in our overall strategy and operational plans." Overall, it is the most complete assessment I’ve seen by Petraeus of the surge. His conclusion on Iraq today: "time is running short." Calling Tom Friedman!

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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