Canaries in the coal mine: Kevin Sites reports about reporting war

In this series of first-person online accounts, CNN correspondent Kevin Sites shares his experience reporting the news from Kuwait, where he is presently stationed:


"We have two birds in our CNN workspace, Anthrax and Smallpox. Parakeets. But for us, canaries in the coal mine. Tiny, organic early warning systems against a chemical or biological attack. Here in our offices overlooking the tranquil Persian Gulf, despite the flurry of activity, it does not seem to me as if we are on the threshold of war.

That's partly because from here, right now, I can't see the Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Paladin howitzers and the 100,000 American troops amassed in the Kuwaiti desert. I can't see the military staging areas, Camp New York and Camp Virginia — named after the states hit in the 9/11 terrorist attack. Here, facing the morning sun in the east, I see only the rippling blue water and the needle-piercing orbs of the Kuwaiti Towers."

Link to the current installment of Kevin's online journals from Kuwait (via CNN), Discuss