Michael Ware on the Things War Makes You See
May 28, 2012 1:00 AM EDT

I should be dead. I wish I was.

Those eight words were not easy to write. It’s even harder now reading them back. Seeing them there, sullen and sad and monosyllabic in their black and white.

James Swanwick, co-founder of CrocMedia (host of the 2009 talk in Los Angeles) and an old friend of Michael’s, has a new book on how to become a journalist that includes an interview with him. James has also posted a page on his website containing a transcript of Michael describing his al-Qaeda kidnapping and near-execution:

I was kidnapped by al Qaeda – and survived [journalist Michael Ware’s story]