War Zone Diary

Tonight, I'll stay up past my bedtime to watch The War Zone Diary on MSNBC.
Richard Engel graduated from Stanford and knowing he wanted to be an international news journalist, moved to Cairo, Egypt with $2,000 in his pocket and a plan to learn Arabic. He figured he'd somehow find a job. In 2003, he became NBC's bureau chief and lead reporter in Iraq, just after we started shocking and awing.

Judging by the trailers and teasers, The War Zone Diary is graphic, personal and raw. It doesn't look to be "fun" viewing. It includes the suffering of our troops and the Iraqi people.

We're a nation at war. We're in a war that's lasted longer than the Korean conflict and both of the previous two World Wars. An hour of "not fun" viewing to better understand this situation is just the first step in what I should do.