Posted on 12/28/2004 10:42:44 AM PST by Abathar
NEW YORK - "You drop on the top of some mountain somewhere in some tiny little village in the middle of the night, and it's pitch-black all around you," Lara Logan remembers. "When you land, it's like the ground rises up to devour you, and from intelligence you know there are people with weapons in that village — and they may or may not be ready to attack."
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
Just another mission for the Navy SEALs as they go about their top-secret business in Afghanistan (news - web sites), flushing out terrorists in some of the world's most pitiless and desolate terrain.
Logan, a dynamic young CBS News correspondent who has reported extensively from such trouble spots as Afghanistan and Iraq (news - web sites), recently spent six weeks with a unit of these Special Operations forces. The access she got is virtually unprecedented for a journalist. Her account — which includes the deathblow to Roze Khan, regarded as the most powerful Taliban leader in southern Afghanistan — will air on "60 Minutes Wednesday" on Dec. 29 at 8 p.m. EST.
Cut down after firing at the SEALs as he tried to flee into the hills, the assault-rifle-wielding Khan was a legendary outlaw who had been tracked by Special Ops for more than two years.
The implications of his killing? "Huge," a team member sums up for Logan.
Logan says she spent months lobbying the military to let her go along. Telling this untold story, she reasoned, could help shed light on the more visible facets of the war. And not just for the audience, but for her, too.
"When you're covering a story in a place like that," she says, "there's constant frustration because you know there's a whole lot of other stuff you can't get to, that would change your understanding of the bigger picture.
"You almost feel like, how can I really understand the role the Marines are playing, if I don't know about any of those other guys that I can't see or talk to? And the role they play is so crucial."
As she speaks, Logan is enjoying breakfast in the plush, Yule-appointed dining room at her Manhattan hotel. A 33-year-old South Africa native who has roamed the world chasing stories and now calls London home, she is in the States to finish a "60 Minutes" profile of renowned chef Thomas Keller, which includes a visit to his northern California restaurant.
But Logan has spent much of the past year in a more characteristic role — a member of the death-defying cadre of war correspondents — covering the turmoil in Afghanistan, which gets short shrift from the media, she says.
"Iraq is the big story," notes Logan, who in 2003 reported from Baghdad until hours before the war began, then returned two weeks later (the first U.S. network TV correspondent to do so) only hours before U.S. forces penetrated the Iraqi capital.
With a story datelined Afghanistan, "people are not going to pay as much attention," she concedes. "But if you just get a few people to pay attention, then that's the real reward."
It was Logan's sustained presence in Afghanistan that helped win her (and her photographer-field producer, Jeff Newton) access to the SEALs. Even with a journalist recording what they do, the SEALs require certain secrets be protected: No faces can be shown unless obscured by helmet and glasses; no exact locations can be disclosed. Special Ops command trusted Logan not to put its men in jeopardy by telling too much.
"She was a known entity to the commanders on the ground," says Lt. Comm. Steve Mavica, spokesman for U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa. He confirmed this was "the first time in recent history that we have embedded a reporter with SEALs ground forces."
Beyond its journalistic payoff, the experience was downright thrilling, Logan says.
"Physically, these guys have the toughest training in the world. They're the absolute best at what they do. And you get to be part of it! How cool is that?"
Actually, not so cool: The conditions were hot and grueling, dirty and sleep-deprived, and, of course, life-threatening.
What does Logan — so fashionably turned out for this breakfast in her sweater and slacks — have against basic creature comforts?
"I don't think it's a question of whether I like roughing it or not," she answers with a laugh. "I just don't care enough for that to matter. I'll live through absolutely anything if it means I'll get a great story that needs to be told."
Next up: A not-so-grueling profile of Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.
And then? "I'd like to go back to Iraq," Logan says. "I'm sort of chewing the door to not pack my bags for Baghdad. I'm watching it on the news, and trying not to go nuts."
60 Minuets? Sorry I'm planning to wash the dog that night.
I wonder if this would have been done by either the military or 60 Minutes before the election?
Yeah, I've got an appointment with my sock drawer.
Is it just me or does she sound a little to excited???? All she or any other reporter would be for the Seals is dead weight........
Puhleeeze.
""60 Minuets? Sorry I'm planning to wash the dog that night.""
I usually would offer to wash the dog FOR you if it was a choice between that and watching 60 Minutes, but this looks like it might actually be a decent article for once.
I seem to have just remembered a root canal I have to get done...
...wishing that I had a nickel for every MSM story that was supposed to be neutral.
Why is the world would Navy SEALs have anything to do with CBS?
"death-defying cadre of war correspondents"
Over the last 2 years we have had hundreds of thousands of troops there. Not to mention GWB, Rumsfeld, and Blair.
But once again the MSM has found a way to make the story about themselves. They self-important and pompous, like all other liberals.
I agree, but even a blind pig can find an acorn occasionally if it looks long enough. If not it is always fun to get a laugh out of what the MSM is trying to pass as neutral these days.
If the gov't could charge to use the term SEAL, we'd reduce the deficit by 50% overnight.
includes the deathblow to Roze Khan
Khan? I already fear a screenplay is in the works.
I would hope that the military was savvy enough to steer clear of anything to do with CBS. 60 Minutes may have the SEALs plotting to assassinate George Soros-with the memo's to back it up!
Where's the rest of her chin?
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