Afghanistan war correspondents discuss fall, future of country, Sept. 3
In the lead up to the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, a panel of leading Afghanistan war correspondents will discuss the collapse of Afghanistan and the impact of the U.S. military withdrawal during a virtual Headliners event at 11 a.m. on Sept. 3, hosted by National Press Club President Lisa Matthews of the Associated Press.
Panelists include Atia Abawi, formerly NBC/CNN, Tom Bowman of National Public Radio, Kathy Gannon of AP, and Saad Mohseni, CEO of MOBY Media Group.
Access the event or download a calendar invitation here.
This one-hour Headliner event program will stream live on the Club’s website and YouTube Channel as part of the Club’s Virtual Headliner series and is accessible to both the press and general public free-of-charge. Viewers are invited to submit questions in advance or during the live program via email to [email protected], with Afghanistan in the subject line.
The panel convenes three days after the Biden Administration’s Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline and one week after the deadliest day for U.S. troops in a decade, the Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 American service members and more than 90 Afghans.
With years of combined experience covering what’s been called “the forever war,” the journalists will share insights on humanitarian, military and political consequences of an Afghanistan now under Taliban control.
The panel will talk about the groups now targeting America’s Afghan allies in violent reprisals and killings, the plight of Afghan women as the Taliban reclaim power, the future of the Afghan media and female journalists, and the fate of billions of dollars worth of U.S.-made weapons.
About the panelists:
Atia Abawi is a journalist and author who spent five years reporting in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she first worked as Afghanistan correspondent for CNN. She subsequently set up and managed the news bureau for NBC News, where she secured NBC’s first, exclusive interview with President Hamid Karzai in a decade. Abawi is also the author of “The Secret Sky” and “A Land of Permanent Goodbyes.”
Tom Bowman has served as Pentagon reporter for National Public Radio since 2006 and previously covered the Defense Department for The Baltimore Sun. He has reported extensively from Afghanistan, embedding for dozens of trips with U.S. soldiers and Marines. Bowman is recipient of a 2010 Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of a Taliban roadside bomb attack on an Army unit that killed two U.S. soldiers.
Kathy Gannon is news director for Afghanistan and Pakistan for the Associated Press and has covered the region for AP since 1988. In 2014, Gannon was seriously wounded while covering preparations for Afghan election when an Afghan officer opened fire on her convoy. Her colleague AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus was killed in the attack. Gannon is the author of “I is for Infidel: From Holy War to Holy Terror in Afghanistan.”
Saad Mohseni, CEO of the MOBY Group, in 2002 launched what has become Afghanistan’s largest private media group and TOLONews, Afghanistan’s first 24/7 news and television network. Prior to starting MOB, Mohseni served as economic advisor to the Afghan government. He’s been recognized as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.