In Extremis: The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin

by Lindsey Hilsum

In the morning, General Shahadah hosted a celebration in his office. The military officer who had launched the attack was congratulated, along with the intelligence operatives who had helped pinpoint the location of the Media Center. At around 11:00 a.m., the head of the General Intelligence Branch 318, Colonel Firas al-Hamed, arrived at the party to say that electronic surveillance had confirmed that two foreign journalists were dead. Having intercepted outgoing calls from Baba Amr asking for help to evacuate both the bodies and the survivors, they knew the names of who had been killed. According to “Ulysses,” they ate and drank and crowed about their success. “That blind bitch was Israeli,” said one of the officers. “Marie Colvin was a dog and now she’s dead,” said General Shahadah. “Let the Americans help her now.” “Ulysses” says that a few days later, Khaled al-Fares received a reward for his part in the killing of Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik: a brand-new shiny black luxury sedan, a Hyundai Genesis. “The car was a gift from Maher al-Assad,” he claims. “A reward for the successful operation.”