New Nightline: Town Hall In Green Zone

ABC’s Terry Moran taped a Nightline “special event” from Baghdad earlier this week, and the resulting town hall with a dozen Iraqis aired last night. “State of Terror” was “a discussion with key figures inside Iraq on the progress that has been made there and the challenges that remain,” ABC says.

But it was missing some important voices in the debate. Some Iraqis opposed to the U.S. presence declined ABC’s invitation to participate, “citing opposition to being inside the Green Zone, where the forum was held for security reasons.”

Quoting the press release: “Additionally, two participants, a member of Saddam Hussein’s defense team and a Sunni candidate for Parliament, were not able to enter the area due to a security incident near a check-point earlier today. Invitations to U.S. military officials and the U.S. Embassy were also declined.”

But “despite the absence of anti-U.S. sentiment, the discussion was candid,” the AP says…