Michael Ware

Journalist


Michael started his journalistic career as a newspaper reporter in 1995, eventually making his way to
Time magazine in 2000.

While with
Time, Michael spent 2002 in Afghanistan (reporting on the search for Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar) before heading to Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion. In 2006 he transferred to CNN but remained based in Baghdad until 2009. During his time with CNN he also reported from Lebanon (covering the war with Israel in 2006), the Republic of Georgia (Russia's incursion in 2008), Pakistan (the elections in 2008), Mexico (the drug war in 2009) and was even lent to the sports division to cover the Rugby World Cup in 2007.

People often describe Michael as an adrenalin-junkie because of the continued risks he took in order to cover wars. But if that were true, he would have needed a 'fix' during his holiday breaks and in the years since – extreme sports, bungee jumping, race-car driving – anything to get that rush. He does none of those things. In fact, having seen so much death caused by hatred, so many men and women fighting for survival every day, the idea of risking your life for kicks is fairly obscene.

Rather, the truth is as simple as he has always said: he became a journalist to be a witness to history, and while covering wars he learned a truth known to warriors for millennia – in those moments when Death is stalking nearby, the true nature of a man is revealed. All disguise is stripped away, and you find out who you truly are.


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