I know some people want me to be nicer to foreign affairs expert Trudy Rubin of the Philadelphia Inquirer. But I have important news: she’s disappeared. Not in Pakistan or Afghanistan, but from philly.com
When you go to the Trudy Rubin link, you only see nine photos.
Your intrepid reporter–that would be me–has found Trudy. She’s behind the pay wall of the newspaper. I am not certain whether that means that the Inky is embarrassed by what she is writing or actually think people would pay to read it.
Using my investigative talents, I found a way around the pay wall so that you, my readers and viewers, can see what Trudy is up to.
I found today’s dispatch from Kabul:
KABUL, Afghanistan – The talk of talks with the Taliban has taken on new momentum in the wake of the death of Osama bin Laden. Even as the Taliban was mounting its spring offensive, Afghan officials told me of recent meetings in Qatar and Germany between U.S. officials and a Taliban official named Tayyeb Agha, who may – or may not – be an emissary of Mullah Omar. And there lies the rub. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has called for a diplomatic surge that will build on military gains produced by the U.S. troop surge. The hope is that Mullah Omar and his Quetta shura (core Taliban leaders) might be sobered by the U.S. ability to hit bin Laden and to break up their networks, and thus be willing to reconcile. Yet conversations with U.S. and Afghan officials and members of the former Taliban government make clear that, even today, no one is certain who can speak for Omar. Nor do they know what he wants. (Despite last week’s rumors of his death, he is believed to still be alive, and hiding in Pakistan.)
Harper back: I have put on my media decoder helmet to try to decipher the above. It may take me a few months, but I will post when I have determined what all of this means. Harper out.
Chris,
I’m really grateful that you found Trudy. I must confess that if I don’t get my daily Trudy fix, I end my day in very bad shape.
That said, I’m counting on you to eventually decipher the contents of Trudy’s special report. In case you manage or in case this might be helpful, I’d love to point out that the only “fact” in Trudy’s report – i.e. that there have been “recent meetings in Qatar and Germany between U.S. officials and a Taliban official” was reported by Der Spiegel and picked up by d.p.a on Sunday, May 22nd.
Regardless of the fact that Trudy got this hot scoop from “Afghan officials” – since she uses the plural in order to convince us that these were top-level insiders, my guess is that, if it wasn’t someone on her newsdesk, her source was most likely a hotel concierge or taxi-driver – the news is, at least, 4 days old. So, at least we know that if we want to find out what’s been going on, we can pick up the Monday edition of any other paper.
PS: I’d forgotten to leave this link:
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1640675.php/Report-German-diplomat-moderating-Taliban-US-talks