American Journalism Review: Afghanistan: The Forgotten War

[DeepModem Mom]

The Forgotten War
With a few stellar exceptions, the U.S. media have largely ignored the fighting in Afghanistan. Here’s why that’s a serious mistake.
By Sherry Ricchiardi

....At first, the press' pullback from Afghanistan was not so noticeable. After a rout at the hands of Allied forces, Taliban and al Qaeda operatives fled to Pakistan or skulked back to caves in the bleak mountains. For several years, Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest and least developed countries, experienced a sense of relative calm as a pro-Western government fell into place and foreign aid poured in. Battles against militant holdouts were fought mostly out of sight, in far-flung, inaccessible locales or by air. Few journalists paid attention to the gathering storm in Afghanistan....

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Some media critics have labeled Afghanistan the "forgotten war" and worry about the consequences of the underreporting, of a nation caught unprepared for the dangers in such a volatile place. Television news, with the potential to reach many millions, has been shamefully inadequate. Print fares better but leaves a lot to be desired, given the importance of the subject.

Stories filed from the region paint a troubling picture of a nation reverting to lawlessness, with Islamic extremists getting a powerful second wind. Their tentacles extend into two other hotspots, Iran and Pakistan. Iran already is a major transit route for Afghanistan's multibillion-dollar drug trade, and U.S. intelligence has received indications that Tehran is supplying weapons and money to insurgents there. It is well known that tribal areas in Pakistan provide refuge to al Qaeda operatives, the Taliban and, perhaps, even Osama bin Laden....

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"It seems to me that the message getting out is very much the party line: 'Afghanistan is a success story. What we did worked and is working still,'" Jean MacKenzie, country director for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Afghanistan, wrote in an e-mail interview in April. "There seems to be less of an emphasis on the very serious problems in the country and almost no assessment of the prospects for long-term stability should the West's commitment to Afghanistan dwindle before the job is done."...

http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4162

[NoAmericanTaliban]

1. Let's not forget Osama bin Forgotten either