[...] For Mr Aziz and other minders, watching over journalists is a serious job. Minding is at times a system of soft enforcement. Severe remonstrations are meted out for failing to show up at government press conferences or not calling the Iraqi leader by his full name, President Saddam Hussein, in all broadcasts. A colleague from the BBC never came back to Iraq after failing that test.

Private conversations when I was out without a camera or a minder gave me insights into the true feelings of Iraqis. They were thoughts that could be worked carefully in to our coverage. But with a minder present there was always a latent intimidation of those we chose to interview. Several times, when asking Iraqi civilians about their private lives I have watched a lump rise in their throats as they glanced nervously across at our minder. [...]

[...] Arnett, 68, also gave some insight into the way CNN's Baghdad crew may have been expelled from the city Thursday, saying they lacked the political skills in dealing with the Iraqi authorities. "It's nothing they did in particular that the Iraqis were irritated at," he said. "A degree of diplomatic and personal relationships get you through in a place like Baghdad." [...]