Reporters on the Job

• Slogans Past and Present: During his embedment with the 6th Squadron of the US Army's 9th Cavalry Regiment in the foothills of the Hamreen mountains northeast of Baquba, correspondent Sam Dagher noticed that the history of the camp was evident on the walls.

For example, in the barracks Sam saw the phrase: "God bless the men of the military intelligence who (word missing) the enemy's intentions." It was signed "the president and leader Saddam Hussein, may God guard him and protect him."

This was once the headquarters of the 2nd Corps of the Iraqi Army. "At the entrance of the camp was a mural of Saddam in a suit and tie. US soldiers, using black spray paint, have replaced his head with one of Mickey Mouse," says Sam.

And in the town of Dalli Abbas, where Sam went on patrol with US soldiers (see story), he saw the recent graffiti of Iraqi insurgents: " "Long live the Islamic State in Mesopotamia".

• The Road Less Traveled: To get to the Aletsch glacier, the largest in the Swiss Alps (see story), staff writer Robert Marquand rode up two cable cars and passed what's billed as the world's highest nine-hole golf course. Coming down was a bit more challenging. Unlike most of the journalists in the group, Robert and a colleague descended on foot. "I've hiked in Yellowstone and in Austria, where the mountain paths have switchbacks. This path was straight down and slippery," he says. After about three hours, as the light was fading and rain began to fall, the intrepid journalists came upon a gondola and took it the rest of the way down.

– David Clark Scott
World editor