Dispatches Intro: $4,000 Worth of War June 2003 by Amy Bowers

Many of our readers wonder what it would be like if they dared go to war. Here's a guy who did, on his own, without sponsorship, and on loose accreditation. Jim Bartlett, who freelances for UPI, The Washington Times and Frankfurter Allgemiene Zeitung, went on a wing, as they say, and a prayer.

After covering Bosnia for the entire war, he had married there and sequestered himself until this spring. When he was suddenly cut loose, Jim went to Iraq as a stringer, paying for what he calls "a wild gamble" out of his own pocket. He says he spent about $4,000 of his own money, which nearly ran out before his safe return home. "That $100 bucks I took from the Special Forces guys at poker night made the difference," he said.

Here's Jim Bartlett's story, fresh from the wing, as he says, of a guardian angel.

$4,000 Worth of War by Jim Bartlett

© AMY BOWERS
email: amy@marash.tv
website: www.amybowers.tv