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 Canaries in the coal mine
By Kevin Sites
Editor's note: In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news around the world. KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (CNN) -- We have two birds in our CNN workspace, Anthrax and Smallpox. Parakeets. But for us, canaries in the coal mine. Tiny, organic early warning systems against a chemical or biological attack. Here in our offices overlooking the tranquil Persian Gulf, despite the flurry of activity, it does not seem to me as if we are on the threshold of war. That's partly because from here, right now, I can't see the Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Paladin howitzers and the 100,000 American troops amassed in the Kuwaiti desert. I can't see the military staging areas, Camp New York and Camp Virginia -- named after the states hit in the 9/11 terrorist attack. Here, facing the morning sun in the east, I see only the rippling blue water and the needle-piercing orbs of the Kuwaiti Towers. The backdrop of the towers provide what we call in TV news the perfect visual cliché, a landmark, like the U.S. Capitol or the Kremlin, which immediately cues viewers to what city or country they're seeing. In every live shot from Kuwait City, behind every reporter, you will see the Kuwaiti Towers. We even have an emergency number posted on the wall to call if the tower lights go dark. NBC trainingBefore we can do much of anything in Kuwait, we must complete an NBC course. This is not a course taught by our competitors at the NBC television network. NBC stands for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical. CNN has invested tens of thousands of dollars to train and outfit war zone employees to survive such an attack. It costs $500 to equip an individual with a complete NBC protective suit and respirator. Our instructor, a good-natured Brit named Ian, has taught us nerve agents are undetectable, that blister agents smell of garlic, and that a choking agent will remind you of freshly cut grass -- right before it ruptures your lungs and drowns you in your own fluids. Ian tells us the risk for smallpox in the region is small. But it is one that concerns me the most -- even though with treatment the survival rate is 65 percent. In class he shows us slides of victims who have contracted the disease. It looks as if their skin has come to a rolling boil. While the illness may not be permanent, the scars are forever. In class, I've also learned to put my mask on, clear it and get a proper seal in 4.2 seconds. In a chemical attack, I would have 9 seconds before going unconscious. I have covered three wars and a half-dozen conflict zones in my career. This is the only one in which I've learned to fear botulism more than bullets. Hurry up and waitWhile they're waiting for an event to begin, journalists tend to cannibalize their surroundings, to cover the environment and stories tangential to the main event. In between trips to the desert to watch U.S. troops drill for war, we cover whatever we can -- a story about American expatriates living in Kuwait, what it looks like inside the Kuwaiti Towers, even what it's like to be a war correspondent. Some people have been here for months, some for weeks, others for days -- all waiting for whatever is to happen. At one point, war seemed certain. Now, after major splits with the European alliance and massive global peace demonstrations, the momentum, but not the military buildup, has seemed to stall a bit. A small giftWe have a meeting in our offices on Saturday morning. Afterward, we are all invited by the staff at our hotel (all guest workers from India, Bangladesh, the Philippines) to pick numbers out of a bowl. We take the numbers to another room where we are given a present corresponding to the number. A gesture of appreciation for being able to labor on our behalf. Some of us get picture frames, necklaces, clocks or candles. My gift is a small ceramic sculpture: Two doves perched on a bed of roses. I put it in our workspace -- near the parakeets.
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