Car Bombs and Politics

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Iraq was a dangerous place nine months ago when Jackie Spinner first started reporting on the war. But still at that time, the Washington Post correspondent was able to visit Iraqis in their homes and to travel with the U.S. military reporting from Kurdistan to Fallujah to Basra.

Much has changed. Last October during Ramadan, she was living as a virtual prisoner in her hotel, often sleeping in the stairwell to avoid shrapnel from frequent mortar attacks.

By the time she left, just two weeks ago, she was living at an undisclosed location, unable to move freely, and relying heavily on the paper’s Iraqi stringers to be her eyes and ears. Jackie Spinner and her postcards from the edge.

Guests:

Jackie Spinner, staff writer for the Washington Post

Alissa Rubin, Co-Baghdad bureau chief for The Los Angeles Times.