Marie Colvin Dead: Veteran War Reporter Describes Death In Syria During Her Final Interview

LONDON (AP) — This is the text of American war reporter Marie Colvin's final interview, given to BBC television from the Syrian city of Homs the night before she was killed Wednesday. She was staying in a house in the neighborhood of Baba Amr. Reprinted with the permission of the BBC.

Marie Colvin: It's absolutely sickening. Just today shelling started at 6:30 in the morning. I counted 14 shells hitting this civilian area of Baba Amr within 30 seconds. There's a small clinic, you can't really call it a clinic. It's an apartment that has been turned into a clinic. You have plasma bags hanging from coathangers.

There was just a constant stream of civilians. I watched a little baby die today. Absolutely horrific. A two-year-old had been hit, they stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the left chest. The doctor just said, 'I can't do anything.' His little tummy just kept heaving until he died. That is happening over and over and over.

No one here can understand how the international community can let this happen, particularly when we have an example of Srebrenica — shelling of a city, lots of investigations by the United Nations after that massacre, lots of vows to never let it happen again. There are 28,000 people in Baba Amr, in homes as I am, besieged. They are here because they can't get out. The Syrians will not let them out, and are shelling all the civilian areas.

Obviously there is Free Syrian Army here, they are very lightly armed. Kalashnikovs, and I've seen a few RPGs. They are essentially playing a defensive role. In fact people are terrified they will leave. There's just shells, rockets and tank fire pouring into civilian areas of this city, and it's just unrelenting.

BBC: Is it your sense this is in effect a 'scorched earth' policy on the part of the regime?

Marie Colvin: I don't see what else it can be. There are no Free Syrian Army targets. They are scurrying from building to building. They control to a certain degree the perimeter. Today there was a foray by the Syrian Army, about seven tanks, about 30 foot soldiers. They did manage to keep them out, at huge cost.

But mostly what's happening is just shells, rockets coming in, just hitting any building. The top floor of the building I'm in was hit last week. The building next to me was just completely obliterated. All the streets I've been on, I have not seen one military target. There simply aren't any. And the wounded and dead I have seen, I would say, are about 80 percent civilians and of course Free Syrian Army fighters. It is shelling with impunity and merciless disregard for the civilians, who simply cannot escape.

Also on HuffPost:

The media reacts to Colvin's death:

• Anderson Cooper

• Katie Couric

• Piers Morgan

• The Sunday Times

• lisa o'carroll

• Sara Sidner

• Brian Stelter

• Christiane Amanpour

• Christiane Amanpour

• Christiane Amanpour

• Katie Couric

Comments

[yaskan]

08:50 PM on 02/24/2012

Thank you Marie for your Courage,even just before your death you wanted to tell the world about the BRUTALITY of the MURDEROUS,Assad regime against civilians including CHILDREN.
you wanted to show the world that the Syrian uprising is being cruched by this criminal,opressive regime.
You wanted to tell the world about the CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY that are occurring in Syria/Homs.
I am SORRY that you had to pay your life for that.
I am hoping that your sacrifice will not be in vain.

[trweste144]

10:32 AM on 02/24/2012

Colvin deserves recognition, but lets not forget Anthony Shadid either. I hope others saw that video Rachel Maddow played where the Syrian protestors held up a giant poster of Colvin with a message of thanks. I found that moving. I don't want to put our American troops in danger, but someone has to put a stop to these horrors.

[The Contrary]

10:40 PM on 02/23/2012

Marie Colvin is a brave and talented journalist who happened to die in the line of duty while covering Syrianians uprising.

Too many media pundits like Limbaugh, Hanity, O'R"ea"lly, Ingraham and few others chose to hide behind the mic and yack on nonsense if not idiot*c topics invented by Republic'CONS'.

[mrlanetwo]

07:13 PM on 02/24/2012

Would your list include Rachel Meadows? Colbert? Jon Stewart?

[MaryK2924]

01:57 PM on 02/25/2012

No would your list include Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Glen Beck? They are commentators or pundits or entertainers. Isn't it Maddow.

[lulubelle1956]

06:24 PM on 02/23/2012

assad's days and those of his butchers are numbered.

[MaryK2924]

01:50 PM on 02/25/2012

Let's hope.

[RomeoMD25]

02:59 AM on 02/23/2012

she went to countries trying to sell war and murder to the dumbed down masses. Blood of these people were on her hands, she was not trying to make the world better she was a puppet that got used and thrown away.

[flashfyre]

03:38 PM on 02/22/2012

So many Syrians gone, now add an award winning American/British Journalist and French photographer to the list. It's hard to believe that Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao are still supporting Assad. The Arab League and UN should issue a joint statement both supporting Taiwan's independence and criticizing China and Russia support of Assad to mark this moment in history.

[RomeoMD25]

03:24 AM on 02/23/2012

The United States of America is the biggest arms dealer in the world.

Arms and death weapons are THE one thing that we can be assured are still manufactured in our country and sold around the world.

[flashfyre]

11:24 PM on 02/23/2012

It really is a different situation. Never forget the mass of arms Russia flooded Africa with and the devastation it caused. The US tends to sell to a bit more rational clientele.