John Burns is currently in Baghdad reporting for The New York Times. He is at the Palestine Hotel, where there are about 100 other reporters. Burns is the Islamabad bureau chief for the Times.
Jon Landay is national security correspondent for the Knight Ridder newspapers. At the time of this conversation he was about 30 miles from the city of Kirkuk in Northern Iraq. But he's not one of the embedded reporters. Landay is traveling as an independent journalist, with a driver and translator.
He is military affairs correspondent for Knight Ridder's Washington bureau. He was a war correspondent in Vietnam and co-authored the national bestseller (with Lt. Gen (ret.) Hal G. Moore) We Were Soldiers Once... and Young: Ia Drang: The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam. He was the only civilian decorated with the medal of valor for his actions during the Vietnam war, rescuing wounded soldiers under fire in the Ia Drang Valley. Galloway also covered the first Gulf War. Recently Galloway was special consultant to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
He is currently senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace where he is on leave from his position as Newsweek magazine's chief diplomatic correspondent. He is also director of American University's Crimes of War Project. Gutman won the Pulitzer prize in 1993 for his coverage of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he provided the first documented reports of concentration camps.
He is reporting from Central Command in Qatar. Last week he wrote a piece in The New Yorker about his decision not to become "embedded" with troops. Sides is the author of the book, Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission. He also writes for Slate.com and is a contributing editor for Outside Magazine.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews The Partyâs Over by the Smoking Popes which they recorded in 1998 just before the band broke up. It's just been released.
He is group editor at Energy Intelligence, a company that publishes news and provides data and analysis about international energy issues. Ibrahim is also a senior fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, Ibrahim was a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, and Tehran Bureau Chief. He also covered energy for The Wall Street Journal.
Journalist Elizabeth Neuffer is the Foreign Affairs/U.N. Correspondent for The Boston Globe. She recently returned from Iran and was in Iraq earlier this year. She has also reported on the war on terrorism from Afghanistan. She's also the author of the book, The Key to My Neighbor's House: Seeking Justice in Bosnia and Rwanda, about the war crimes tribunals and the efforts of victims to find justice.
Staff writer for The New Yorker, Philip Gourevitch. He wrote a recent profile in the magazine about U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and the United Nations. Gourevitch is the author of We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda and his most recent book, A Cold Case.
Mark Woollen and Michael Greenfeld are both in the business of creating film trailers â the two-and-a half minute edited teasers that promote upcoming feature films. Woollen is the founder of Mark Woollen and Associates and their recent movie trailers include About Schmidt, Pianist, Antwone Fisher and The Ring. Greenfeld is partner and co-CEO of Antfarm. Recent Antfarm campaigns include Chicago, Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Catch Me If You Can and Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. The Golden Trailers Awards were held last week.
William Taubman is a Political Science Professor at Amherst College and an expert on Russia. He has written many books on the Soviet Union. His latest is a biography of the Russian ruler Nikita Khrushchev who led the country after Stalinâs death and attempted to de-Stalinize the country. Itâs called âKhrushchev: The Man and His Eraâ (W.W. Norton). Taubman will also discuss Russiaâs recent veto of the Security Council resolution on Iraq and Russiaâs relationship with Saddam Hussein.
Novelist Scott Spencer. His newest book is "A Ship Made of Paper," and it's receiving critical acclaim. Our book critic, Maureen Corrigan, describes Spencer as a brilliant storyteller. Spencer is the author of seven previous novels, including "Endless Love" which sold over 2 million copies. He's also written for Rolling Stone, the New York Times and The New Yorker.
Former New York Times Balkans Bureau Chief and Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Hedges. He's covered war zones in Central America, the Middle East, and the Balkans for over 20 years. He'll talk about the mindset of being at war. Hedges is also the author of the book, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. (Public Affairs).
Michael Ignatieff is Professor of the Practice of Human Rights and the Director of the Carr Center of Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. He has traveled to Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Afghanistan. He discusses his reluctant support of a war on Iraq, and his concerns.
Pulitzer prize winning journalist Thomas Powers. His new book is âIntelligence Wars: American Secret History from Hitler to Al-Qaedaâ (New York Review Books). POWERS wrote about Iraq after the war in the New York Times article, âThe Man Who Would Be Presidentâ (Sunday, 3/16/03). He writes, âWhat then happens to Iraqâs 23 million people, its oil and its relations with its neighbors will remain the personal responsibility of Mr. Bush and his successors in the White House until one of them chooses to surrender it.â