Capitol Hill Blue Forums Thread Like Summary - Interesting read - maybe

Just heard an interview with Thomas Gibbons-Neff. He served two tours in Afghanistan, then became a journalist and returned there, reporting for the New York Times.

I thought he was shopping a book but apparently he was interviewed because he is the new bureau chief in Kabul. His columns are available through the Times site and possibly elsewhere.

He is interesting for a number of reasons. He freely (and sadly) admits that the US lost the war. He interviewed a Talib who was (apparently) his chief enemy while he was a Marine.

The one point - the “maybe” part of the title: the interview was well underway when the interviewer, Terry Gross, asked about the Taliban’s attitude towards girls going back to school. Gibbons-Neff stumbled around and said something about “Maybe next year.” She followed up with a question about basic freedom for women - the ability to move around unescorted, for example. He fumfered around some more and finally said something about that being held as playing card for the Taliban in future international negations.

It makes me nuts that he wasn’t prepared for these two questions, and it makes me doubt his ability as a journalist. If you’re reporting on a society, and you see that society as “people” and also “women,” you’re going to miss a lot of valuable information.

If you’re interested, the interview is available on NPR.ORG.

Yep. But what ticked me off was that he had to be prompted to address that question. He didn’t seem to regard it as important at all, nor did he have prepared answers.

I will admit my first reaction was “Marine,” but that may not be fair. If his experience in Afghanistan was more in military conflict than with non-military civilians, his focus is understandable — but it still makes him a crap reporter.