Afghanistan's Addiction
Yesterday I featured a story by David Finkel, one of the finest journalists reporting from Iraq. Today I'm praising the work of Jon Lee Anderson, another top war correspondent who has done a tremendous job covering the continuing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. His "The Taliban's Opium War" in last week's New Yorker displays the great depth of his reporting and his ability to clearly explain what is happening in a distant, confusing land. Anderson details how the Taliban are aligning themselves with poppy farmers, helping Afghanistan provide 92 percent of the world's opium supply. The story is full of great scenes such as this one showing the frustrating efforts of Douglas Wankel, the man in charge of the U.S. counter-narcotics campaign in Afghanistan:
“How long have you been growing poppies?” Wankel asked him.
The farmer looked surprised. “When I was born, I saw the poppies,” he said.
When we were ready to move on, the farmer said, as if to be polite, “Thank you—but I can’t really thank you, because you haven’t destroyed just my poppies but my wheat, too.” He pointed to where A.T.V.s had driven through a wheat patch. Wankel apologized, then commented that it was only one small section. “But you have also damaged my watermelons,” the farmer insisted, pointing to another part of the field. “Now I will have nothing left.”
Are there any other war correspondents whose work you recommend? If so, leave a comment below.
newyorker.com/reporting/2007/07/09/070709fa_fact_anderson?currentPage=1