Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq five years ago, Iraq has become the world’s deadliest country for media while hundreds of Iraqi journalists have been forced into exile because of threats or murder attempts, said Reporters Without Borders, in a report on the state of Iraq’s journalists. Instead of reporting in Iraq, they are refugees in Jordan, Syria or Europe or North America, said the press-rights organization.

“But exile does not mean the end of their problems,” said the report. “Most of the journalists who flee Iraq do not find work. Many have to give up journalism. All or nearly all of them are living from hand to mouth, alone or with their families.” It said Iraqi journalists are targeted by Sunni and Shiite militias, by Al-Qaeda, by authorities including the police, and by the US-led coalition forces. To date, 210 journalists and assistants have been killed and another  87 have been abducted with 15 of those still missing.

The report came out the same  week that U.S. president George Bush gave a speech stating he has no regrets about the invasion, which he said “liberated a country … By spreading the hope of liberty in the Middle East, we will help free societies take root — and when they do, freedom will yield the peace that we all desire.”

Just how does any journalist report on this stuff “objectively?”