Marie Colvin - On the Front Line

The Collected Journalism

of Marie Colvin

HarperPress

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Published by HarperPress in 2012

Copyright © Sunday Times 2012 except:

‘Letter from … Kosare’ © Marie Colvin 1999

‘Bravery is not being afraid to be afraid’ © Marie Colvin 2001

‘Into the underworld’ © Marie Colvin 2005

‘The Greatest Storyteller of All’ © Cat Colvin 2012

‘Marie Colvin: the last assignment’ by Jon Swain © Sunday Times 2012

‘Reports of my survival may be greatly exaggerated’ © Alan Jenkins 2012

All photographs from Marie Colvin’s private collection, unless otherwise stated

The Publishers are committed to respecting the intellectual property rights of others and have made all reasonable efforts to trace the copyright owners of the photographs reproduced, and provide an appropriate acknowledgement in the book. In the event that any of the untraceable copyright owners come forward after the publication of this book, the Publishers will use all reasonable endeavours to rectify the position accordingly.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9780007487967

Ebook Edition © APRIL 2012 ISBN: 9780007487974

Version: 26-03-2019

Simply: there’s no way to cover war properly without risk. Covering a war means going into places torn by chaos, destruction, death and pain, and trying to bear witness to that. I care about the experience of those most directly affected by war, those asked to fight and those who are just trying to survive.

Going to these places, finding out what is happening, is the only way to get at the truth. Despite all the videos you see on television, what’s on the ground has remained remarkably the same for the past 100 years. Craters. Burnt houses. Women weeping for sons and daughters. Suffering. In my profession, there is no chance of unemployment. The real difficulty is having enough faith in humanity to believe that someone will care.

MARIE COLVIN

The Sunday Times, 21 October 2001,

‘Bravery is not being afraid to be afraid’

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book goes to the Marie Colvin Memorial Fund

The Colvin family has established a memorial fund in honour of Marie. The fund will direct donations to charitable and educational organisations that reflect Marie’s lifelong dedication to humanitarian aid, human rights, journalism and education.

We thank you for sharing this information with others who may be interested.

Donations may be made payable to:

The Marie Colvin Fund at LICF

1864 Muttontown Road

Syosset, N.Y. 11791

More information on the Marie Colvin Memorial Fund,

and online payment options are available at:

www.mariecolvin.org

Marie at a university party during her time at Yale, New Haven, CT.

Marie on the beach, Cyprus, 1987.

Marie with her mother Rosemarie Colvin, at her wedding to Juan Carlos Gumucio in London.

Marie with nieces Michelle Colvin, right, and Justine Colvin, Oyster Bay, 2004.

Marie sailing near Zakynthos, 2007. Photograph by Richard Flaye.

Title Page

Copyright

Epigraph

The Marie Colvin Memorial Fund

FOREWORD

by Cat Colvin

PART ONE

IRAN–IRAQ WAR

Basra – blitzed and battered, but not beaten– 25 January 1987

Black banners of death fly over Baghdad– 25 January 1987

Wine and lipstick lay Iran’s ghost to rest– 29 October 1989

MIDDLE EAST

Soviet settlers jolted by the promised land– 11 February 1990

Love sours for Romeo and Juliet of the West Bank– 1 April 1990

Desperately seeking answers in the Arafat slipstream– 5 June 1990

Home alone in Palestine– 19 September 1993

Arafat thrives amid cut and thrust of peace– 9 January 1994

LIBYA 1992–93

Frightened Libyans await the next blow– 19 April 1992

Adie’s minder cracks up– 26 April 1992

Lockerbie drama turns to farce– 3 October 1993

GULF WAR

Under fire– 27 January 1991

Ghosts of war stalk Basra’s empty streets– 23 August 1992

Critics are silenced as Saddam rebuilds Iraq– 4 October 1992

Shadow of evil– 22 January 1995

Blood feud at the heart of darkness– 8 September 1996

MIDDLE EAST

The Hawk who downed a dove– 12 November 1995

Israel’s peace hopes wither– 2 June 1996

Israeli bulldozers rev up for showdown in Jerusalem– 16 March 1997

Arafat encircled in battle for Jerusalem– 6 April 1997

KOSOVO

The centuries of conflict over a sacred heartland– 8 March 1998

Kosovo’s silent houses of the dead– 15 March 1998

Kosovo guerrillas fight Serb shells with bullets– 25 April 1999

Massacre in a spring meadow– 2 May 1999

Letter from … Kosare– 4 June 1999

The neighbour who burned with hate– 20 June 1999

British detectives on trail of men behind massacres – 27 June 1999

The enemy within – 15 August 1999

CHECHNYA

Wrath of Moscow leaves no place for Chechens to hide – 19 December 1999

Escape from Chechnya to a trial by ice – 2 January 2000