The Conversation Hour, 612 ABC Brisbane -- 29:10
 

As a war correspondent in Baghdad, Mick Ware works in the most dangerous place in the world: He's been threatened, held hostage, narrowly avoided bombs and tanks and has caught a few life-threatening diseases to boot. It's a long way from Brisbane Grammar School, where Michael completed his education, but he's just been appointed as CNN's Baghdad correspondent.

Michael began his journalism career in earnest at The Courier Mail, before moving to Time in Sydney, then New York and covering the 'War on Terror' first from Afghanistan, then Iraq. In Afghanistan, Michael relied on the most basic journalistic skills. "This is what a lot of people lose sight of - doing your homework, paying attention and listening," he says. "Afghanistan was completely alien to me... I spent the first few weeks trying to find out what Afghanistan was really about... I dressed like an Afghan - it's about immersing yourself."

In Afghanistan he spent time with members of the Taliban. "It's like opening a refrigerator door -- really quite chilly -- to know that these groups are responsible for the this historic event [September 11], and then be sitting in a room with these men... It's like you're touching history... From Brisbane, transported to some safe house with men in black turbans and Kalashnikovs with this glint in their eye."

Michael believes that many Americans have had enough of the war in Iraq. "America is tired," he says. "They don't want to hear about the war, by and large... It's just grinding them down... The boys are coming home in body bags; boys are coming home without limbs... To hear that it isn't going well and that the ultimate solutions may be unpalatable is not welcome news."

However, Michael says America is unable to withdraw. "It would be mayhem... No one would be able to really effectively exercise control... You'd see a proliferation of terrorist camps... Whether you're for or against the war, it's too late, America. You broke it, you pay for it."