Now Children As Young As Nine Carry

Hair Is Also A Problem. I Remember Once, When I Was Reporting From Beirut At The Height Of The Civil War, Someone Wrote In To The Bbc Complaining About My Appearance.

It's Totally Mistaken To Suppose That An Armed Escort Is Going To Give A Journalist Any Protection - On The Contrary, Journalists Who Turn Up Surrounded By Armed Personnel Are Just Turning Themselves Into Targets And In Even Worse Danger.

But In The First Gulf War The United Kingdom Was Not Under Any Threat From Iraq, And Is Still Less So In The Second One. Then There Is No Justification For Obstructing Freedom Of Information, Particularly As Nations Have A Right To Know What Their Soldiers Are Being Used For.

The Better The Information It Has, The Better Democracy Works. Silence And Secrecy Are Never Good For It.

I Keep Telling Myself To Calm Down, To Take Less Of An Interest In Things And Not To Get So Excited, But I Still Care A Lot About Liberty, Freedom Of Speech And Expression, And Fairness In Journalism.