First Black Journalist Killed In Iraq

A wave of car bombings snatched the lives of two CBS News team members covering the war yesterday, including veteran cameraman Paul Douglas (pictured), a British national who was the first black journalist to die in the ongoing violence. Mr. Douglas, 48, soundman James Brolan, 42, and 39-year-old CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier were accompanying the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, to film a Memorial Day story about what life is like for the troops in Baghdad when a car packed with explosive blew up nearby. The three were outside of their armored Humvee, with troops who were examining a roadblock in Baghdad, when the blast happened, according to CBS and Iraqi Police. Mr. Douglas and Mr. Brolan were killed instantly. Ms. Dozier is in critical but stable condition and is being treated for injuries to her head and legs. The deaths of the two men, who both lived in London, bring the number of journalists killed in the Iraqi conflict to 71, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Correspondent Mark Phillips offered this short tribute to Mr. Douglas: "It was Paul's smile, the one that never seemed to leave his face no matter what horror he was witnessing. And from Bosnia to Afghanistan, from Rwanda to the Palestinian territories to Iraq, there were few horrors of recent history that Paul Douglas had not witnessed. Paul was one of those people you wanted around when things got dicey. He could charm his way through hostile country, he could defuse the belligerent tension at an armed roadblock. He would get the reluctant to tell you their story. Paul could disarm anyone with his good natured ways, given the chance. Today he had no chance. Paul Douglas was 48 years old when his luck ran out on a Baghdad street. He leaves a wife, two daughters, three grandchildren, and an elderly mother behind."