GEORGES MALBRUNOT AND CHRISTIAN CHESNOT are French journalists who were abducted in Iraq on August 20 of last year and held under constant threat of death for four months. They were freed a month ago and sent home to France after the French government reportedly spent $19 million to secure their release. Malbrunot and Chesnot say their fate turned out better than that of many others because of their nationality. They say if they had been American, British, or Italian, they would not be alive today. Their experience has given them a unique perspective on the war in Iraq; and now, one month after his release, Malbrunot "offered a curt assessment of where America's Iraq policy is headed: 'Straight into a wall.' He also had some blunt advice for journalists planning to cover the war. 'Don't go to Iraq,' he said. 'You will be killed. No story is worth your life.' "