By: Joe Strupp For Susan Glasser and Peter Baker of
The Washington Post, covering the pending war in Iraq has become a family affair. Married for more than two years, the couple -- who normally work out of the
Post's Moscow bureau -- will see both sides of the conflict, with Baker embedding with a Marine command unit and Glasser searching out stories for the newspaper on her own.
"We'd much rather be together, always," said Baker, who spoke to
E&P from the Hilton Kuwait Resort, where the two are staying as Baker awaits orders to join the command unit of the First Marine Expedition Force and Glasser determines her "unembedded" war-related coverage plans. "I'm going to worry about her, but she is a savvy and smart correspondent," he said.
Glasser said she also will wonder how Baker is doing once the shooting starts, but is glad not to be linked with a military unit. "I don't want to be embedded because I think post-war is the story," said Glasser, who hopes to report on the military campaign's effect on civilians and the post-war government. "I want to engage with people from the country of Iraq, not the military."
Baker saw it differently, describing his embedding assignment as "a great opportunity and a terrific vantage point."
Stationed in Moscow for the past two years, the couple actually met earlier in the
Post's Washington newsroom when Baker was a White House correspondent and Glasser held an editing position.
Iraq is not the first war-related assignment the two have shared. They spent eight months in various Afghanistan locations during and after the 2001 military invasion there, but only saw each other on some weekends. They've also undergone a week of training at the Centurion facility in England, which provides combat training for journalists. The couple has no children.
Both said they worried less about the other when they are both facing dangerous assignments. "If one of us was back in Moscow, I think it would be more difficult," Baker said. "We'd each go crazy."
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