You've been among the very few Western journalists on the ground in Afghanistan for all this time, correct? The fact that most Western, and particularly American journalists, have spent little, if any, time over there greatly affects their coverage and very attitude toward Afghanistan. Can you talk about that a bit?
We were on the ground in Afghanistan in 1981, 1983 and 2002 at critical intervals in the progress of the war. Our objective was to find the connection between what Washington was doingand what was happening in Kabul. As the first journalists to gain access to Afghanistan in 1981 through diplomatic channels at the UN following the expulsion of 1135 western journalists one month after the Soviet invasion, we began by seeing Afghanistan in a very different light from the overtly propagandized version playing on the evening news.
What we saw was a world away from the monolithic, cold war images portrayed on the evening news. Struggling to find an identity and grow a modern society in the midst of a war, Afghanistan in 1981 was a myriad of cultural clashes - ethnic, religious and tribal - not the least of which were the rights of women and how their role would evolve into the next century. It was in conversations with Kabul's mullahs that we first heard their concern for their religion and culture, calling their brand of Islam progressive. We listened as they explained their acceptance of women's rights and the need for their country to utilize all of its human resources.
At the time, the scenes of Kabul's streets were dramatic but shocking when compared to today. A Soviet backed Afghan president trying to justify the presence of Russian troops. A Kabul University where students studied books in English at the American Library. Crowded markets where both men and women worked and shopped - a culture - vast and complex in the process of evolution - an ancient Afghanistan caught between the three worlds of religion,modern politics andthe Western Dream, an Afghanistan that was and could have been.
Because Afghanistan's was caught behind the veil of super power confrontation between the U.S. and Soviet Union, their story and the plight of millionsof Afghansremained ignored. When we returned from Afghanistan in 1981 with that story, CBS News only wanted Russians, not Afghans. The story that finally ran was about the Russians we didn't see.
Because we framed our understanding of the Afghan dilemma without
an overbearing American-centric perspective, we not only got a view of an
unseen Afghan life, but a revelatory look at how the US defined itself against
the rest of the world under the veil of superpower confrontation. The fate of
Afghanistan always had a lot more to do with what was going on in Washington
than Kabul.
This Administration, following in
the footsteps of past ones, does not seem to understand or care about the
reality of Afghanistan beyond our own, narrow perceived interests. Is it
possible to break out of that simplistic, military mindset? And if so, how?
Public opinion, which is increasingly against our involvement there, doesn't
seem to count for much.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
