Whitney's Story—Flintoff’s ‘Hydra’

NPR’s Flintoff—Iraq’s ‘Hydra’
By Whitney Sant

The Greek myth of the hydra head tells of Hercules battle with a nine headed monster that grows two heads for each one cut off. The multi- headed beast is constantly changing and multiplying to the frustration of its challenger.

According to NPR foreign correspondent, Corey Flintoff who spoke to USU students Wednesday, the hydra head and reporting in Iraq have a lot in common. Because of the steady changes, Flintoff explains, it is a struggle to get an accurate depiction of what is really going on there.

Flintoff told students of several issues reporters face when trying to get stories in the middle of the Iraq war. One being that the enemy is always changing and the reasons for war are always being altered. “The more shifts there are in American strategy, the more challenges there are for reporters,” Flintoff said “Everyone on the other side starts to look like an enemy,”

Beyond the challenge of keeping up with the perplexing changes, Flintoff also conveyed financial and security struggles faced in Iraq. According to Flintoff around 1500 to 2000 foreign reporters were covering news in the beginning of the war, now there are only 70. “It is just too expensive,” he said.

As an example Flintoff explained that the ride from the airport to the reporting station in Baghdad is 28 hundred dollars—one way. Other expenses include the armored cars that must be taken to and from certain destinations, and the cost of the house stationed at in Baghdad.

These expenses are necessary for reporters’ safety. “I feel safer than I would if we lived in the green zone,” he said, an area where 14 people died last year.

While the security costs are continually rising, opportunities for reporters to move independently in Iraq are not. “Numbers of factions in this war would like nothing better than to get their hands on a western journalist, either to make an example of them or to hold them for ransom,” Flintoff said.

The high risk of kidnapping has limited chances for reporters to get information from the outside. On average safety only lasts for about 45 minutes per mission. “I try to tell listeners just how limited a view I’m able to give you,” Flintoff said.

Iraqi reporters have had more success because they are not targeted as easily. Although, according to Flintoff, they put their lives on the line as well. Just last summer Flintoff’s Iraqi business manager was kidnapped and tortured for five days until a ransom was paid for his life.

Flintoff explains how his manager’s outlook on his home in Iraq was changed forever and his family was forced to move to the United States. “When people risk lives and the lives of their families, we owe them a great deal more than we are giving them,” he said.

Flintoff explained his feelings on the war in Iraq from his personal experiences. The conflict of the war, he explains, is like 12 blind men introduced to an elephant, one sees the trunk, and one sees the ear and so on. “I would be lying if I said my experience there is any more than the tail,” Flintoff said “Honesty means I let you know what I don’t know.”

Although, what Flintoff does know is that the “hydra head” in Iraq is only “muzzled” for now.

When he made a return to Iraq from August of 2007 to December there appeared to be improvement in the progress of war, although with the never ending changes and problems Flintoff sums up his thoughts of efforts in Iraq as “a lot of good intentions, and a lot of failure.”
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