On Reliable Sources today, Howard Kurtz had on NBC Middle East Bureau Chief, CBS’s Allen Pizzey, and former CNN Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf to talk about, among other things, journalists in Iraq and Haditha. Transcript follows…

KURTZ: Media casualties in Iraq are becoming all too common, from the killing of “Atlantic Monthly” editor Michael Kelly to the wounding of ABC anchor Bob Woodruff, to dozens of kidnappings, attempted kidnappings, drive-by shootings, and close calls. Has the story simply gotten too dangerous for journalists to cover without endangering their lives?

Joining us now in Baghdad, Richard Engel, NBC’s Middle East bureau chief; in Rome, CBS correspondent Allen Pizzey. We’ll talk to him by phone. And in New York, Jane Arraf, CNN’s former Baghdad bureau chief, and now a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Welcome.

Allen Pizzey, your colleague, Kimberly Dozier, why did she risk her life to do this kind of dangerous reporting?

ALLEN PIZZEY, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it’s because it’s what she does. I mean, she wanted to tell the story. It was Memorial Day. She wanted to see what soldiers in Iraq were doing on Memorial Day and how they would mark it. It’s just another violent day.
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