AS THE MID-TERM ELECTIONS NEAR, questions about the U.S. occupation of Iraq increase, in both frequency and volume. The war's unpopularity, and why, has been featured in recent television broadcasts, including this week's Frontline special, The Lost Year in Iraq. The film is based on more than 30 interviews, most of them with officials charged with rebuilding and bringing democracy to Iraq.

The degree to which former highly place officials were ready to speak out lends clarity to what in effect was institutional chaos and ignorance. One of them, a now retired Army general who was the director of the Iraq Reconstruction Group said, "There was no plan and no staff." Another describes the overall effort as "heroic amateurism."

As the debate heats up, New Yorkers can get live, unfiltered reporting at two events being held next week. Among the subjects sure to be discussed is the effectiveness of images - both still photos and video footage - in conveying the truth and in shaping opinion. Please check websites for details.

Tuesday, October 23. David Friend, author of Watching the World Change: The Stories Behind the Images of 9/11 (2006) and Vanity Fair's editor of creative development, will moderate a discussion, The Role of Photography in a Post 9/11 Media Landscape. Panelists include: Jonathan Torgovnik, photojournalist; Aidan Sullivan, Getty Images; Mary Anne Golan, photo editor, Time magazine; Vincent Laforet, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer for The New York Times. The event, sponsored by Getty Images and held at the Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, is free, but RSVP (through ICP) is required.

Wednesday, October 24. Media Bistro offers War Reporting From the Frontlines: How Journalists Grapple with Covering Iraq. Among the panelists are: Rajiv Chandrasekaran, an assistant managing editor of The Washington Post, who also appeared on The Lost Year in Iraq; Brian Palmer, photojournalist and filmmaker whose documentary film, Full Disclosure, debuts in December; Paul McLeary, staff writer for the Columbia Journalism Review; Josh Partlow, staff writer for The Washington Post, Walter Rodgers, former senior international correspondent for CNN during the first Gulf War, and author of Sleeping With Custer and the 7th Cavalry: An Embedded Reporter in Iraq (2006). The moderator is Manoush Zomorodi, international producer and reporter for BBC television and radio.

Photograph: Non-Arabic speaking U.S. Marines attempt to get information from non-English speaking Iraqi forces. ©2006 Brian Palmer

More about the panelists:

David Friend, Watching the World Change: The Stories Behind the Images of 9/11.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone (2006).

Vincent Laforet, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer for The New York Times

Brian Palmer, photojournalist and filmmaker.

Paul McLeary, Columbia Journalism Review

Josh Partlow, Washington Post