New York Times reporter David Rohde’s five-part series, “Held by the Taliban,” is one of the best pieces of journalism that I’ve ever read and serves as an important reminder that America still needs major newspapers like the New York Times and old-school reporters like Rohde to uncover truth in faraway lands.
Rohde, an Afghan journalist and their driver were kidnapped on Nov. 10, 2008, and held hostage for 7 months, 10 days by the Taliban.
The piece begins:
THE car’s engine roared as the gunman punched the accelerator and we crossed into the open Afghan desert. I was seated in the back between two Afghan colleagues who were accompanying me on a reporting trip when armed men surrounded our car and took us hostage.
Another gunman in the passenger seat turned and stared at us as he gripped his Kalashnikov rifle. No one spoke. I glanced at the bleak landscape outside — reddish soil and black boulders as far as the eye could see — and feared we would be dead within minutes.
Rohde continues describing the ordeal in absolutely gripping detail, much like the style of his NY Times colleague Dexter Filkins in his book, “The Forever War” (another must read).
See example from Part Three of Rohde’s series:
As the weeks passed, our captivity became increasingly surreal.
My Taliban guards slept beneath bedspreads manufactured by a Pakistani textile company and emblazoned with characters from the American television show “Hannah Montana” and the movie “Spider-Man.” My blanket was a pink Barbie comforter.
The style of Rohde and Filkins carries more weight, as they are able to reduce the overall conflict into minute-by-minute accounts, human moments that are easily relatable, rather than talk broad policy. Like Filkins, Rohde takes on the challenge of writing about himself, which is never easy for a journalist, and, like Filkins, succeeds, never pretending to be an omniscient narrator.
Rohde admits the experience gave him a new understanding of the Taliban and thankfully he was able to tell his story.
Other things I found interesting:
- How Rohde attempts to understand his captors, even though he writes that he detests them
- How he deals with his responsibility to his family/audience
- How he uses the knowledge that he has learned as a journalist to help him survive
Part One: 7 Months, 10 Days in Captivity
Part Two: Inside the Islamic Emirate
Part Three: ‘You Have Atomic Bombs, but We Have Suicide Bombers
Part Four: A Drone Strike and Dwindling Hope