I read an advance copy of The Afghanistan Papers and found the book both riveting and maddening. His coverage of the Fat Leonard probe, a corruption scandal that ensnared more than 60 admirals, is bonkers. ![]() I met Whitlock when I interviewed at The Washington Post he was one of the reasons I wanted to work there. The book is one-part indictment of mission creep and American hubris, and one-part warning to future leaders. Over the last year, Whitlock has turned the original reporting into a full length book: The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War.īased on interviews with soldiers, diplomats and policymakers by a government watchdog, it chronicles years of recklessness and bad decision-making that the nation is still grappling with today. In December, 2019, The Washington Post published a groundbreaking investigative series by Whitlock, “ The Afghanistan Papers,” that quickly became a foundational text for understanding the war in Afghanistan. “No question that affected my whole career.” “The journalistic ambitions were high and the standards were high,” he said about the N&O. ![]() He’s now an investigative reporter at the Post. His time in North Carolina set him up to jump to The Washington Post, first as a statehouse reporter, and later as the Berlin Bureau chief. “I really learned a lot about records, documents, and not taking no for an answer,” said Whitlock of his journey from the N&O’s Chapel Hill bureau, to its Durham team, before eventually arriving at the state desk, where he got to wander from mountains to the sea looking for stories and projects, like a sprawling and detail-filled profile in 1997 exploring banker Hugh McColl’s rise to power. His groundbreaking investigative series on the Afghanistan War-“The Afghanistan Papers”-is back at the center of the national debate thanks to its cutting and insightful critiques of American policy and execution over the course of the 20-year war.īut whether or not North Carolina remembers him, a Duke graduate and seven-year veteran of the News & Observer, Whitlock certainly remembers the state. “I don’t think too many people in NC still remember me,” he said, before quickly agreeing to chat. When I asked Craig Whitlock, a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and Washington Post reporter, whether he’d have time for an interview last week, he responded with a dose of self-deprecation.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |