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| Afghanistan |
| Lara Logan on Afghanistan |
| 2012-10-09 |
| by Laura Washington, Chicago Sun-Times This was no ordinary rubber chicken affair. That was my reaction to the extraordinary keynoter at Tuesday’s Better Government Association annual luncheon. Lara Logan, a correspondent for CBS’ “60 Minutes,” delivered a provocative speech to about 1,100 influentials from government, politics, media, and the legal and corporate arenas. Such downtown gatherings are a regular on Chicago’s networking circuit. Her ominous and frightening message was gleaned from years of covering our wars in the Middle East. She arrived in Chicago on the heels of her Sept. 30 report, “The Longest War.” It examined the Afghanistan conflict and exposed the perils that still confront America, 11 years after 9/11. Eleven years later, “they” still hate us, now more than ever, Logan told the crowd. The Taliban and al-Qaida have not been vanquished, she added. They’re coming back. “I chose this subject because, one, I can’t stand, that there is a major lie being propagated . . .” Logan declared in her native South African accent. The lie is that America’s military might has tamed the Taliban. “There is this narrative coming out of Washington for the last two years,” Logan said. It is driven in part by “Taliban apologists,” who claim “they are just the poor moderate, gentler, kinder Taliban,” she added sarcastically. “It’s such nonsense!” Logan stepped way out of the “objective,” journalistic role. The audience was riveted as she told of plowing through reams of documents, and interviewing John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan; Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and a Taliban commander trained by al-Qaida. The Taliban and al-Qaida are teaming up and recruiting new terrorists to do us deadly harm, she reports. She made a passionate case that our government is downplaying the strength of our enemies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as a rationale of getting us out of the longest war. We have been lulled into believing that the perils are in the past: “You’re not listening to what the people who are fighting you say about this fight. In your arrogance, you think you write the script.” Our enemies are writing the story, she suggests, and there’s no happy ending for us. As a journalist, I was queasy. Reporters should tell the story, not be the story. As an American, I was frightened. Logan even called for retribution for the recent terrorist killings of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other officials. The event is a harbinger of our vulnerability, she said. Logan hopes that America will “exact revenge and let the world know that the United States will not be attacked on its own soil. That its ambassadors will not be murdered, and that the United States will not stand by and do nothing about it.” In the “good old days,” reporters did not advocate, crusade or call for revenge. In these “new” days in a post-9/11 world, perhaps we need more reporters who are willing to break the rules. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 "In the “good old days,” reporters did not advocate, crusade or call for revenge. In these “new” days in a post-9/11 world, perhaps we need more reporters who are willing to break the rules." We've had reporters crusading for leftist causes and whitewashing Islamist atrocities for years. What we've lacked are reporters willing to tell the truth about the failure of leftist solutions and Islamist atrocities. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2012-10-09 20:19 |
| #8 Hey, I've been called worse! A happy accident really, since I've never come across Mercer before. Look forward to reading her book. Should be a nice antidote to all that optimistic Tom Barnett Core/Gap stuff. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2012-10-09 13:53 |
| #7 Mercer is the South African born author of "Into The Cannibal's Pot". She makes some vary stark comparisons of her native land and what we are seeing take place in America today. Apologies for the name mix up. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-10-09 13:11 |
| #6 Wahahaha doc, you've been reading too much Ilana Mercer. Wrong member of the Army of Steve. Never heard mention of Mercer before, just my impression from a couple of people I've known, and maybe the odd Rantburger. Perhaps not insight, but simply the experience of watching it all come down around them. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2012-10-09 13:03 |
| #5 When I said last two wars, I was speaking of Afghanistan and Vietnam. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-10-09 10:42 |
| #4 Why does Lara Logan have such a clear understanding of the situation in Afghanistan but our leaders not? Sun Tzu said: "In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns." We have not paid much attention to this maxim in the last two wars. If we are interested in nation building and that is questionable, it should come after annihilation (breaking the will) of the enemy. Perhaps Sun Tzu should have spoken to the notion of Perfumed Generals and Political Correctness but then maybe he did in so many other words. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-10-09 10:40 |
| #3 Is it my imagination or do white South Africans have a certain insight when it comes to devolving situations? Posted by SteveS Wahahaha doc, you've been reading too much Ilana Mercer. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-10-09 05:15 |
| #2 A mugged (raped) liberal? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-10-09 01:30 |
| #1 Logan hopes that America will "exact revenge and let the world know that the United States will not be attacked on its own soil. That its ambassadors will not be murdered, and that the United States will not stand by and do nothing about it." Yeah, what she said. Even if it takes a while. Is it my imagination or do white South Africans have a certain insight when it comes to devolving situations? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2012-10-09 00:53 |