Clarissa Ward Landing at Doha Airport, Spain, early morning from Friday to SaturdayIn the tweet announcing his arrival, he added: “We are lucky”. certainly. Qatar has been receiving Afghan refugees and most Western refugees for a week. Or, to put it another way, Western evacuees and those Afghans who can prove their ties to European or American companies, under the new Taliban regime, pose a risk to their lives.
Many others are still at Kabul Airport, but Ward has already spoken. Of course, the international head of CNN, as the special envoy of the Afghan capital, did not warn anyone about her departure. It is understood that she and her chain stores have seen the risks. Ward has been risking his life these days Use images to record the situation in Kabul, or more precisely, the situation around Kabul Airport.Ward is often harassed by people, both to express their rejection and to seek his help. Ward has not only become an American phenomenon, but also a worldwide phenomenon: just like the first time. the Gulf WarAs early as January 1991, CNN became the only channel that obtained permission to shoot and broadcast images.
In the age of social media, this means Ward’s photos have been all over the world They showed a certain image of Kabul. What image? Obviously, what the Taliban is willing to admit is: how much chaos the United States has created and how disastrous the withdrawal is, no one here clarifies. This is not even an implicit criticism of Ward. He did what he could. He might meet a lunatic with an AK47 at any time. He decided to shoot first and then ask for documents. This is just a reality: the Taliban’s desire for Afghanistan began with confusing reports… and the report from CNN is one of them.
A few days after a complete blackout
Why is it confused? Because it is incomplete. If you have watched Clarissa Ward’s video, you will first see a woman. A woman is covered from top to bottom, well, she should also cover her face when talking to a man… but it is a woman after all. When watching Ward freely through the city on TV, it is difficult to measure the tragedy that millions of Afghan women are suffering, these women are completely bound by Islamic law, which does not grant them citizenship and human status, notify the camera And ask questions through their repair staff and translators.
In a way, Ward is the bait used by the Taliban to show the world that they are not that bad. This is why I have documents and authorizations. Therefore, when they met her, the guard put down the rifle. Ward inadvertently softened reality, Show us a chaotic but not hellish KabulHe knows that he has his limits, he must respect them, after all, it is better to leave there as soon as possible, because sooner or later someone will tell him: “We do not guarantee your safety” and the same thing, and then there is no plane to board.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid at the press conference.
Ward’s departure left us No photos of KabulBut at least it killed all euphemisms. The situation is as terrible as it seems. Soon, stoning will begin again, and public executions will begin, and no one can talk about it. There are no Westerners, of course. Stealth phone videos and other small things. The testimony of the brave who managed to stay. For a while, Afghanistan seemed more like a theme park than a country in a state of war, and fools would go to Kabul to watch a Twitch live broadcast.
When everyone is a collaborator
Therefore, the goal is false information in the most literal sense: the absolute lack of information. Silence is good for the Taliban, They are better at public relations. They have tried, they have held a press conference, they have tolerated CNN… but everything has its limitations. If they want some kind of continuity, they must learn and be careful. His allies will ask him to avoid getting blood on their hands, but their ultimate success is another matter. When you insist on representing the horror on earth, it is difficult to make a nuance.
The Taliban will soon have a country without media. Or there is no unofficial media, which is equivalent to the same thing. Here, two complicated and terrifying points are combined: it is not just the end of the work or the correct end, but the end of the person who performed the work. During these years of large-scale international presence in Afghanistan, Local reporters actively cooperate with foreignersThey helped them in their report, solved the problem for them, and guided them to avoid indiscriminate attacks on civilians as much as possible.
There is an urgent need to get all collaborators out of there, simply put, there is no infrastructure.Afghanistan is now A mousetrap with only one exit hole And that hole is closing little by little. The New York Times published an article this week in which they described their cooperation with their newspaper The Wall Street Journal with Washington postSince Qatar was the arbiter of all disputes, they succeeded, and Qatar sheltered the Taliban in palaces allowed by US military bases.how come Clarissa Ward, They are the “lucky ones”.
Clarissa Ward is a journalist who risked her life to cover the Taliban occupation in Kabul.
Clarissa Ward
In the dark heart
In the same article, John LipmanThe program leader of the Voice of America (VOA) national radio station said: “Even outside Afghanistan, we will report on current events in Afghanistan.” This is a good statement of intent, but the truth is that they will notFor those who remain, the tough weeks and months are coming. A few weeks and months later, one morning the Taliban militias will show up and take them away with their families. They will no longer be heard. Then, the western media on duty will publicly protest one or two days… But those months will pass, and with their deaths, they will be forgotten. By the way, the commercial advertisement of Al-Yazeera, a TV network based in Doha .
No one dares to enter Afghanistan, no one cares like no one cares 1995 to 2001There are several signed petitions on Change.org that unanimously condemn rapes and massacres that are occasionally leaked, but nothing else. When journalism disappears, impunity beginsWe do not know what will happen to all those who arrive in the emirate. There is no room for everyone, and the authorities have begun to disclose it. Western journalists will return to their country, but which country will the translators, cooks, confidantes return to? Qatar will not keep them, and European disputes often lead to inaction.
The before and after comparison of Afghan female journalists after the arrival of the Taliban
At the same time, the media circus seems to be changing the venue.One or two days before departure Clarissa WardAnother iconic face of the international information industry, Roxana Saberi of CBS Network has left the country. Saberi didn’t have enough protection to walk down the street to interview people, so she played her chronicles on Zoom until it became too dangerous. Now, there is no burqa, no robes, even with a summer atmosphere, it broadcasts from Doha. “Report Afghanistan from Afghanistan”. No, that’s impossible. To talk about darkness, to understand what darkness is in people’s lives, you must go deep into your heart and go crazy in the face of fear and death.
The rest is news, but the most important is entertainment. Good because it’s better than nothingBesides, there are no more options. Simulate what you are reporting is true. Trust the simulation of this information. For CNN, Clarissa Ward, Doha. For CBS, Roxana Saberi, Doha. Xavi Hernández sneaked into the scene these days. Since their military targets are covered at full speed, the Taliban need longer time to cover civilians. But they will do it, and they are not in a hurry. They have been planning revenge for twenty years, but it is destined to be as scary and opaque as usual.