Iraq, as a recent report by the Committee to Protect Journalists made clear, has become the deadliest conflict for journalists for 25 years.

The journalists working in Baghdad at the moment are seeking to make working lives a little safer by setting up a Foreign Press Association.

The association would act as a central point of contact for the authorities, a forum for pooling information and safety advice and a single voice for the foreign press working in Iraq.

The costs of setting up the FPAI -- offices, translators etc -- would be modest and each press organisation is being asked to contribute to the start-up costs.

Here's where the problems start.

Some multi-million dollar outfits -- who are perfectly prepared to send their staff on the most dangerous assignment in the world -- are balking at the prospect of contributing just a few thousand dollars to help set up an organisation that could one day save the lives of journalists working in the field.

They should be utterly ashamed.