The South African Civil Society Information Service

Behind Jeremy Scahill's 'Dirty Wars'

4 Dec 2013

War reporting is a difficult and dangerous game, and that's the case when those wars are declared and fought out in the open. Then there are the undeclared wars in countries like Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia fought through drone strikes and black ops teams -- covert military operations that officials barely even acknowledge. Those are the kinds of wars that Jeremy Scahill covers. Scahill made his name in 2007 with a book on Blackwater, the US military contractor that was paid big money by the pentagon for its work largely done in the shadows in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This year Scahill published a book called Dirty Wars and this week the documentary version of the book opened in European theatres. Schaill's view is that those dirty wars affect the lives of thousands, and that not enough Americans have heard their stories. Scahill is also one of the names along with Glenn Greenwald behind a new journalistic venture that will be bankrolled by eBay billionaire, Pierre Omidyar.

Al Jazeera's Richard Gizbert sat down with Scahill to discuss the documentary, the challenges he faced in making the transition from print journalist to on-camera reporter and what kind of journalism the new venture needs to produce.

© Al Jazeera

Editor's Note: "Dirty Wars" is one of 15 feature documentaries shortlisted for an Oscar. Visit the Dirty Wars website and watch the trailer and a free preview of the film.

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