WE BEGIN THIS WEEK WITH OUR JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT SCOTT BOBB.
SCOTT HAS BEEN VOA'S LEAD JOURNALIST ON THE FRONT LINES IN SYRIA.
AND IMRAN, YOU GOT A CHANCE TO TALK WITH HIM WHEN HE WAS HERE IN WASHINGTON LAST YEAR.
THAT'S RIGHT, ALEX.
WE SAT DOWN TO DISCUSS WHAT HE'S SEEN IN SYRIA, HOW HE'S COVERED THE CONFLICT, AND THE DANGERS
INVOLVED IN BEING A WARTIME REPORTER.
TAKE A LOOK BACK AT OUR CONVERSATION AND SOME OF SCOTT'S REPORTING.
BAB AL-SALAMA CAMP NEAR SYRIA'S BORDER WITH TURKEY.
ABDULHAMID ASSAD ARRIVED FROM ALEPPO SEVERAL MONTHS AGO WITH HIS EXTENDED FAMILY OF FIGHTERS
WITH THE SYRIAN REBELS.
THEY FLED BECAUSE THEY RAN OUT OF BULLETS.
ASSAD ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE REBELS HAVE SUFFERED REVERSALS ON THE BATTLEFIELD LATELY.
AS A RESULT, NEW ARMS ARE WELCOME.
"OF COURSE THE WEAPONS WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
WE ARE JUST WAITING FOR THEM.
I HAVE 70 FIGHTERS HERE JUST WAITING TO GO AND HUNDREDS MORE ARE WAITING IN ALEPPO."
SCOTT, HOW'S IT BEEN LIKE COVERING THE EVENTS IN SYRIA?
THE CONFLICT HAS EVOLVED; IT GOT BLOODIER, MORE DEADLY AND NASTIER.
WHEN I FIRST WENT IN AUGUST OF LAST YEAR, RIGHT WHEN THE BOMBINGS OF CIVILIAN POPULATIONS
BEGAN, THERE WERE MAYBE A FEW THOUSANDS DISPLACED PEOPLE AT THE BORDER WITH TURKEY WAITING TO
CROSS FOR A SPACE IN THE REFUGEE CAMPS...
A FEW THOUSANDS, WHEN I WENT BACK IN JUNE THIS YEAR, NOT A YEAR LATER, THAT CAMP HAD
GROWN TO 100 THOUSAND.
THIS IS BEING THE EVERYWHERE ALONG THE BORDER WHETHER IS LEBANON, JORDAN OR EVEN IRAQ.
SO THIS IS ONE.
THE DEGREE OF SUFFERING AND TRAUMA IS MUCH MUCH GREATER.
NOW YOU HAVE FAMILIES COMING ACROSS WITH NO MAN OLDER THE AGE OF 12, BECAUSE EVEN BOYS
OF 12 YEARS OLD ARE BEING KILLED BECAUSE THEY ARE SUSPECTED OF BEING REBEL'S SYMPATHIZERS.
WERE THERE ANY JOURNALISTS WHEN THE CHEMICAL ATTACK TOOK PLACE?
THERE WERE CITIZEN JOURNALISTS, SYRIANS WHO HAVE BEEN COURAGEOUSLY GOING OUT AND FILMING
WITH THEIR CELL PHONES...EVENTS AND WHO HAVE CAUGHT A LOT OF THIS VIOLENCE AND TRAGEDY
ON THEIR PHONES, OTHERWISE WE WOULD NOT REALLY BE AWARE OF IT.
BUT NO PROFESSIONAL AND NO FOREIGN JOURNALISTS WERE IN THAT AREA, TO MY KNOWLEDGE AND OF
COURSE THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED THERE BECAUSE, BECAUSE IT WAS NEAR DAMASCUS.
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT FOR JOURNALISTS WHO COME THROUGH ON THE REBEL SIDE TO GET THERE.
SOME HAVE, BUT IT'S VERY DANGEROUS AND IS SO MUCH MORE DANGEROUS NOW, THERE ARE VERY
FEW TO GET THAT FAR.
HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THOSE WHO CRITICIZE THE U.S. FOR NOT TAKING ANY ACTION, COMPERED
TO THOSE WHO SAY, "FOR GOD SAKES TAKE AN ACTION"?
WELL, AMONG THE REBELS I HAVE NOT HEARD CRITICISM OF THE COMMUNITY FOR TAKING ACTION.
IT'S VERY MUCH...WE WANT AT LEAST A NO-FLY ZONE OR A BUFFER ZONE ALONG THE BORDER WHERE
WE WON'T BE ATTACKED...A PLACE OF SAFETY AND REFUGE, WHICH THEY ARE NOT GETTING.
IT IS IN AMERICA AND OUTSIDE OF SYRIA THAT YOU HEAR THOSE VOICES AND YOU TRY TO...
SOMETIMES EVEN...I TELL THEM I'M NOT THE AMBASSADOR SO...BUT I TRY TO EXPLAIN WHY THE PROBLEM...
THE FACT THAT AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ ARE SO FRESH ON MANY PEOPLE'S MINDS, THE FACT THAT
MANY AMERICANS ARE CONCERNED WITH THE BUDGET DEFICIT AND THE EXPENSE AND THE RISK OF BECOMING
DEEPLY INVOLVED, OF RETALIATION...
BUT THEY STILL SAY "WELL, HO CAN YOU LET THIS HAPPEN, CAN'T YOU DO SOMETHING?"
WHAT I SAY IS, "WELL, I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD GO ON THIS LONG".
AND HOW DO YOU DO IT?
YOU FILMED YOURSELF AND YOU ARE TAKING A SHOT AND YOU GET ROCKET FLYING BACK AND FORTH...HOW
DOES THAT WORK?
WELL, IF ROCKETS START FLYING, THE FIRST THING YOU DO IS GET SAFE AS YOU CAN BE, TAKE COVER.
AS EVERYONE SAYS NO STORY IS WORTH DYING FOR.
BUT THE WAY WE TEND TO WORK IN THIS WAR ZONE IS TWO OF US GO IN.
I GO IN, I SHOOT OFTEN, BUT WHEN WE GO IN LIKE THAT, USUALLY I GO IN WITH A CAMERAMAN,
THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS FOR THAT.
ONE, WE CAN WATCH EACH OTHER'S BACKS BECAUSE WHEN YOU ARE FILMING YOU REALLY CAN'T SEE
ANYTHING EXCEPT WHAT IS IN THE LENS.
TWO, WE ARE FASTER.
BECAUSE I CAN BE WRITING A SCRIPT AND WORKING ON IT WHILE THE CAMERA GUY, WHO IS ALSO THE
EDITOR, IS ISOLATING...DOING THE ROUGH CUT AND ISOLATING THE SOUND FROM THE INTERVIEWS...AND
THE THIRD ONE IS THAT WHILE HE...
THE CAMERAMAN, CAMERA PERSON IS SHOOTING THE B-ROLL, THE EXTRA SCENES AND SO FORTH, I'M
TALKING TO PEOPLE AND GETTING MORE INFORMATION...
AND BECAUSE THE CAMERA ISN'T THERE, THEY ARE OFTEN MUCH MORE HONEST AND FORTHCOMING.
SO WE FIND THAT WE ARE ABOUT THREE TIMES MORE PRODUCTIVE WHEN WE ARE TWO PEOPLE THEN WE
ARE JUST ONE.
WOULD YOU GO BACK AND BE A PART OF THE COVERAGE AGAIN, AFTER SEEING WHAT YOU'VE SEEN?
YES.
I'D GO BACK.
I WOULD HAVE TO BE MUCH MORE CAREFUL AND I HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH MY BOSSES THAT I MAKE
THE CALL BECAUSE I'M ON THE GROUND.
I'M ASKING...AND INFORMING MYSELF ALL ALONG THE WAY WITH EVERYBODY WHETHER IS REBELS,
WHETHER IS CIVILIANS WHETHER...
PEOPLE I KNOW CONTACTS...AND AGAIN YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO ABORT A MISSION AND GET
OUT ON A MOMENT'S NOTICE.
AND THAT HAPPENED COUPLE OF TIMES.