What is the big question that arises about the way forward?
This war started largely as an American war. But in its second decade, this has increasingly become a very localized war in Afghanistan – it has become related to two different sides, the government side and the insurgent side.
The big question is: what is the process to undo this hatred, this animosity that was so localized? This will require a lot of attention, attention and time. Does the US have the patience to wait for this to be completed properly?
You were born in Kabul and covered this war for the past seven years. As a reporter, what is it like to imagine peace?
All the past year focusing on the potential for a resolution to the conflict has been invigorating in several ways. For the past seven years, much of it, I was reporting a story that was a bloody stalemate.
Every day, every week, we were reporting on death after death after death. It was frustrating and painfully desperate. It is almost as if I were an obituary writer; we were finding human stories to remind people that, hey, those 50 dead all had hopes, dreams and lives.
Last year, there was this opening that finally this conversation could turn. As a reporter, part of me almost feels like I’m going back to a normal journalist job: politics, diplomacy, business. Last week gave me an idea of what the report on Afghanistan would be like if it were a more normal place.
That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.
– Chris
Thanks
Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford broke the news. You can contact the team at [email protected].
PS
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