Tom Gjelten
Tom Gjelten reports on religion, faith, and belief for NPR News, a beat that encompasses such areas as the changing religious landscape in America, the formation of personal identity, the role of religion in politics, and conflict arising from religious differences. His reporting draws on his many years covering national and international news from posts in Washington and around the world.
In 1986, Gjelten became one of NPR's pioneer foreign correspondents, posted first in Latin America and then in Central Europe. Over the next decade, he covered social and political strife in Central and South America, the first Gulf War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and the transitions to democracy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
His reporting from Sarajevo from 1992 to 1994 was the basis for his book Sarajevo Daily: A City and Its Newspaper Under Siege (HarperCollins), praised by the New York Times as "a chilling portrayal of a city's slow murder." He is also the author of Professionalism in War Reporting: A Correspondent's View (Carnegie Corporation) and a contributor to Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know (W. W. Norton).
After returning from his overseas assignments, Gjelten covered U.S. diplomacy and military affairs, first from the State Department and then from the Pentagon. He was reporting live from the Pentagon at the moment it was hit on September 11, 2001, and he was NPR's lead Pentagon reporter during the early war in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. Gjelten has also reported extensively from Cuba in recent years. His 2008 book, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause (Viking), is a unique history of modern Cuba, told through the life and times of the Bacardi rum family. The New York Times selected it as a "Notable Nonfiction Book," and the Washington Post, Kansas City Star, and San Francisco Chronicle all listed it among their "Best Books of 2008." His latest book, A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story (Simon & Schuster), published in 2015, recounts the impact on America of the 1965 Immigration Act, which officially opened the country's doors to immigrants of color. He has also contributed to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and other outlets.
Since joining NPR in 1982 as labor and education reporter, Gjelten has won numerous awards for his work, including two Overseas Press Club Awards, a George Polk Award, and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, he began his professional career as a public school teacher and freelance writer.
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Now that Baghdad has fallen and southern Iraq is largely under the control of U.S. and British forces, attention is turning to the northern part of the country where the key city of Kirkuk fell today. Some analysts believe the next big battle for US led forces will be Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. NPR's Tom Gjelten analyzes the military options.
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The U.S. military drops four bunker-buster bombs on a building in a residential Baghdad neighborhood where U.S. intelligence suggests Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his sons have taken refuge. U.S. officials say they are "moderately confident" that Saddam and one or both of his sons were in the building. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten.
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Facing fierce Iraqi resistance, U.S. Army troops enter Baghdad from the south, but do not cross the Tigris River into the center of the city. U.S. officials say the three-hour incursion is exercise in psychological warfare; Maj. Gen. Victor Renuart says it is a "clear statement of the ability of the coalition forces to move into Baghdad at a time and place of their choosing." Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten.
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U.S. soldiers consolidate their hold on the international airport outside Baghdad, with reinforcements on the way. The airport is likely to serve as an important strategic base as commanders consider whether to cut through the city or to surround it. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.
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U.S. troops find of boxes of suspicious white powder, a nerve agent antidote, and documents on chemical warfare at an industrial site south of Baghdad, according to a brigade commander of the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division. But U.S. forces have not yet found definitive proof that Saddam Hussein's regime has biological and chemical weapons. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.
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U.S.-led warplanes strike facilities in Baghdad, including various Republican Guard positions and a presidential compound. The air assault is described as one of the heaviest since the war began. Iraqi officials say 19 people were killed and more than 100 wounded. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten and NPR's Anne Garrels.
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Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld denies reports that the Pentagon refused requests for more troops by the U.S. commander for the war in Iraq, Gen. Tommy Franks. Rumsfeld defends the war plan for Iraq as "excellent," and notes that Gen. Franks drafted the U.S. battle strategy. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.
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A week into the war with Iraq, the White House and Pentagon find themselves defending the war plan against charges it misjudged the adversary. The senior U.S. Army commander inside Iraq provoked the latest controversy, saying the enemy his troops are fighting "is different from the one we'd war-gamed against." NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.
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Military analysts criticize the U.S. war plan as fierce Iraqi resistance slows the march toward Baghdad. Critics say U.S. commanders made a mistake by not sending more ground forces to Iraq. On Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld defends the war plan, saying the "outcome is assured" and the ruling regime will be removed. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten.
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Pentagon rethinks its strategy in the U.S. advance toward Baghdad as troops face unexpected levels of resistance from a group of Iraq's irregular forces. The Fedayeen fighters, who dress in civilian clothes and attack U.S. tanks and vehicles from pickup trucks, have slowed the movement of U.S. and British forces. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten.