wɪð bˈoʊθ ˌeɪbˌiːsˈiː ænd sˌiːbˌiːˈɛs ɪn ɪɹˈæk, bɹˈɑːlæn wʌz pˈɑːɹt ʌvðə "ɛmbˈɛdᵻd dʒˈɜːnəlˌɪst" sˈɪstəm ðæt wʌz kɹiːˈeɪɾᵻd baɪ ðə mˈɪlətˌɛɹi fɚðə tˈuː θˈaʊzənd θɹˈiː ɪɹˈæk wˈɔːɹ wˈɛɹbaɪ dʒˈɜːnəlˌɪsts wɜːɹ ɐsˈaɪnd jˈuːnɪts ænd bɪkˌeɪm dᵻpˈɛndənt əpˌɑːn ðoʊz jˈuːnɪts ænd ðɛɹ stˈændɪŋ ɪnðə tʃˈeɪn ʌv kəmˈænd fɔːɹ ˌɪnfɚmˈeɪʃən ænd ˈæksɛs tə ðə kˈʌvɚɹɪdʒ ʌvðə wˈɔːɹ zˈoʊn.
With both ABC and CBS in Iraq, Brolan was part of the "embedded journalist" system that was created by the military for the 2003 Iraq War whereby journalists were assigned units and became dependent upon those units and their standing in the chain of command for information and access to the coverage of the war zone.