Iraqslogger’s Eason Jordan Invites Right-wing Blogger Michelle Malkin to an Increasingly Unsafe Iraq

The fallout from CENTCOM’s denial that six Sunnis were burned alive by Shiite militia members continues to send shock waves throughout both old and new media. Eason Jordan, the former CNN executive who was forced out of office by a blog-hyped controversy over remarks he made about U.S. troops targeting journalists, is now the chief of a new site called Iraqslogger.

It may be a promotional stunt, but Jordan has convinced his former critic, Michelle Malkin, to accompany him to Iraq on the search for Jamil Hussein, the source for many AP stories about Iraqi casualties whom Malkin and many others in the right-wing blogosphere claim does not exist. Eric Boehlert and other on the left have taken Malkin to task for her pursuit of the story, and now she is getting the chance to look for Hussein herself.

But what will Jordan and Malkin find when they get there? USA Today’s Peter Johnson reports that Iraq is becoming increasingly dangerous for Western reporters and any Iraqis who come into contact with them:

network and cable news reporters say the escalation in sectarian violence, coupled with uncertainty about the future U.S. role in Iraq, have prompted Iraqis to be more wary of them and have made an already dangerous assignment even more perilous.

Reporters say their ability to paint a full picture of Iraq is increasingly difficult because of safety restrictions that they or their news organizations have imposed.

“We now have the 15-minute rule: We never stay anywhere longer than 15 minutes to reduce the chance of kidnapping or attack, CBS’ Elizabeth Palmer says.

“If I go to somebody’s house, I do so invisibly,” Palmer says. “And I have to be conscious of the people I show in my stories, because just putting them on the screen might effectively be exposing them to death.”

Firedoglake wonders about Malkin’s security detail:

I do think Markos has a good point:

So long as they leave the Green Zone, and without security detail that puts a single US soldier in harm’s way. I mean, things are so splendid and it’s just like Philly and there’s all those great new schools! They’ll be perfectly safe, I’m sure.

It does put Michelle in a bit of a bind. 

…Baghdad is rapidly being carved up into Shia and Sunni enclaves that are not safe for any outsider to enter. If she sticks to the Green Zone, Laura Ingraham will no doubt cut her to ribbons for “reporting from hotel balconies,” right?  (Malkin herself approvingly quoted the same sentiment here.) But if she decides to leave…well, what neighborhood do you think Michelle Malkin — the woman who hires security guards to protect her from pies — will venture into?

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