I read a news report from a Slate reporter who was reporting from Sadr's mosque in the heart of the Baghdad slums. The reporter talked about men waving Kalishnikovs and holding grenades in their hands. And interviewed shopkeepers who talked about being very afraid. And watched a humvee race past, 3 of its tires shot out, occupants waving their hands and shouting something unintelligible.

I was shocked to find out the reporter was a woman wearing a burkha. I would have admired the courage of a man in a man's world. But a woman! What kind of nerve it must take to walk into the devil's stronghold and interview the demons on the loose?

To me it's unimaginable. She did say that the women had searched her thoroughly at the mosque, but let her pass. Perhaps as a woman she is not seen as a threat. But I cannot grasp anyone having that kind of courage.