Rotations, Trafficking, and Divorce

Last week, Frederik Pleitgen ended his rotation in Baghdad and flew out to Afghanistan. But he did it in style, aboard a C-17 cargo plane carrying a unit of road-clearing men and machinery into Kandahar. Thursday on NewsRoom, we got a look at what it takes to make such a massive move:

That same day on International's BackStory, a look at the behind-the-scenes hurry-up-and-wait effort that went into making the move. And yes, that is legendary CNN producer Tommy Evans making a rare appearance in front of the camera:

That same day, Cal Perry started his Baghdad rotation covering a dubious report of an arrest (still unconfirmed as of today) and the start of the bloodiest 24 hours Baghdad has seen this year:

Friday, Cal's news from Baghdad was even more grim, and if several months of relative quiet has let you forget what hard news out of Iraq looks like, this will remind you in a hurry:

Back to Afghanistan, as Atia Abawi reports on drug trafficking there and how it is being used as a weapon in a political campaign:

Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, women become even more disposable, with a court allowing divorce via text message. Mohammed Jamjoom reports:

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From the ATC calendar: Campbell Brown will receive a 2009 Matrix Award tonight at the Waldorf-Astoria.

That's it for me today ... I'm back on Thursday this week, see you then!

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