 I actually, I started my journalistic career in 2003. So actually, no, 2002, I'm sorry. So it was just about a year before the war on Iraq began. And I remember it was a very exciting moment to be a journalist was also very, you know, heartbreaking moment to be an American. Although at that time I wasn't yet a citizen but I lived in the country long enough. And I remember as a Pacifica journalist feeling particularly happy that I was in a network that unlike the major media was very clearly pointing out that we were being all lied to by the president by the cabinet by Colin Powell. I actually co-hosted a national broadcast organized by Pacifica when Colin Powell made his infamous speech to the United Nations, giving you know, quote, clear definitive evidence of weapons of mass destruction and despite the, the, the really obvious lies around the pretext to the war that war went ahead and as you know, it felt particularly satisfying and gratifying to have, you know, only a few months later when the US went into Iraq and found that there were no weapons of mass destruction to be in that minority of journalists in the United States who were saying, This is just not true. The, you know, the Saddam Hussein is not planning to carry out attacks on us. Immediately he is not amassing a massive arsenal of weapons. Of course it was extremely sad to see as approved, sad to see the fact that we were in a minority, and we meaning independent journalists were in a minority. The, the other thing that I remember being so excited to witness and report on as a journalist with a huge anti war marches. Of course we remember in February 2003, the massive anti war marches that took place against the war in Iraq. And, and, and, you know, it was important to document that because the mainstream media really wasn't interested in seeing that that sort of dissent against the Iraq war, because the Iraq war was so much. You know, for some reason, the war against Iraq was was much more opposed in the war in Afghanistan. You know people Americans, I think wrongly felt that the war in Afghanistan was justified because of the September 11 attacks, but that the Iraq war had nothing to do with the 11th. And so there was much more outrage about that war and covering that was amazing. But then, of course, the long dark years of the Iraq war were also very interesting to cover as a journalist because there would be so many moments when the media would simply move away from what was happening in Afghanistan, just move away from, you know, once Saddam Hussein particularly was deposed and once he was killed. It was as though our job there was done but our troops were still there our troops were still fighting our troops were still causing chaos and policies to basically dismantle Saddam Hussein's forces that became so disgruntled that ended up fueling a civil war of sorts in Afghanistan in Iraq. Those stories were something that, you know, myself as an independent journalist felt absolutely compelled to keep covering and we've continued to cover that. And I also remember as an independent journalist how important it was to seek out voices of dissent inside Iraq and we really sought out women's voices from inside Iraq, Iraqi women living here in the United States who had relatives in Iraq and who were, you know, watching the war and its consequences unfold bit by bit. And so those voices were extremely important. Meanwhile on CNN all you have the military generals, all you had were the war strategists who would try to determine, you know, whether a particular battle would succeed or not, rather than whether we ought to be there in the first place. There were there were so many amazing independent films and documentaries. The war in Iraq, I think really was one of those moments where documentary filmmaking blossomed, you know, we had like Robert Greenwald's incredible films on so many fantastic films that came out about what was actually happening in Iraq and documentary filmmakers I think really found a footing here in the United States with the Iraq war becoming a very big focus. And so we focus on that as well. You know that independent journalists and documentary filmmakers were going to Iraq and interviewing them became a really important part of how we covered that country. I really feel like one of the questions Americans don't ask ourselves often enough is put ourselves in the shoes of ordinary Iraqis. How would we feel if another country had come on a false pretext and destroyed our government such as it was a setting aside the fact that, you know, people are living under a dictatorship. You know, most Iraqis knew that the US was not really interested in their well being. And that came of course after years and years of sanctions by the Clinton administration that impoverished and starved Iraqis. How would we feel if we had bonds continually dropped on our heads. How would we feel if our relatives were humiliated in Abu Ghraib I didn't even mention Abu Ghraib the coverage of Abu Ghraib as an as a journalist and independent journalist was one of the most important tasks that I felt I had to uncover the humiliation at US hands of ordinary Iraqis. All of those things have fueled the anger and the hatred against the United States among a surprisingly small minority of Iraqis. It's surprising that not more wish ill on us because look at what we have done to them. And unless we take stock of that will never be able to make sense of what's really happening in Iraq and of course that's a big part of the media's job is to make sense of the world to help put things in context to give that historical perspective to try to follow the money to try to follow the interest the corporate interest the commercial interest the private interest the weapons manufacturers, and we don't get enough of that from the mainstream media. So it's been you know it's been frustrating and gratifying as a journalist independent journalist covering Iraq frustrating because the answers have been so obvious if you simply look for them in terms of how you know things are going badly and what could be done to write them and gratifying because it's always gratifying to be on the team that gets it right. You know I wish I wish the mainstream media had gotten it right but they really haven't you know here and there you get good facts but the analysis is missing the context is missing and that's what sorely needed.