MOST PEOPLE WOULD rather undergo several root canals than go to Iraq. Most reporters would, as well. But there are a tiny number who actually feel the need to do so--even to the extent that they're willing to pay all their own expenses in the hope, but nothing more--of recovering part or all of those expenses through donations and selling articles about their experiences. These are the citizen embeds, and I am one of them. I was supposed go over in February, but I didn't, and the reason I didn't is of more than personal interest.

Originally I had planned to go to al Anbar Province for the fourth time in February. Then I decided that it was more important to cover the "surge" in Baghdad. My editors at THE WEEKLY STANDARD agreed. Yes, I knew the area would be swamped with mainstream reporters--all the more reason for some citizen embeds to be there.

I asked for two embeds in the Baghdad area or one in Baghdad and one in Diyala, a hotspot on the Iranian border. These would allow the reporting I specialize in, which isn't "war" generally but combat. I like to report on the men doing the fighting (see this and this, for example). The vast majority of American reporters in Iraq play it safe in Baghdad hotels, and even embeds often go no further than a major camp that's as safe as the International Zone. But there is also a dedicated corps of citizen combat reporters in Iraq. I told Combined Press Information Corps (CPIC), which embeds reporters, that I preferred to be with the 82nd Airborne--which had only recently arrived and which is my old sister unit--but didn't insist on it. If I'm where the action is, I'm happy.

I was first offered an embed in Tikrit and said no. Saddam's birthplace sees about as much combat as Malibu these days, for the best of all reasons--it has been pacified. A car bomb here and there perhaps, but that's not combat, even if reporting on car bombs is all the mainstream media wants to do. Let them. If I'm going to be somewhere as peaceful as Malibu, I'd rather be in Malibu. It has a beautiful beach, you can buy beer, and you're not paying a fortune each day for war insurance.

In response, CPIC said another embed would be found for me. Since I was in a hurry and you can't get a good airfare without buying in advance, I went ahead and bought my plane ticket. Then I was told what that "new" destination would be--Tikrit! But, I was told, that would only be the first half of the embed. The second half would be with the 82nd at Camp Loyalty in eastern Baghdad. Nevertheless, that still didn't solve the problem of paying war insurance for a week of twiddling my thumbs in Tikrit. Moreover, I had an excellent indication of what would happen once I got to Tikrit based on my first embed in Iraq. On that trip, in April 2005, CPIC told me I'd be embedded with a combat unit in Ramadi, but I had to go to Falluja first and embed with civil affairs. Once I got to Falluja, the Ramadi embed was simply yanked without any real explanation.