A Battlefield Tourist

Where is David Rohde?

Feb 14 at 6:06am by David Tate

“Who’s David Rohde?”, you wonder. David Rohde is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the New York Times who has been missing in Afghanistan now for more than four months.

That’s correct. NY TIMES REPORTER MISSING FOR FOUR MONTHS! (A close family friend says David was not with the NYT when abducted).

I picked up on this story here in Afghanistan when a journalist based in Kabul was telling me about this dilemma and how there’s frustration within journo circles as to whether or not it should be reported in the press. So I did a quick Google search and found a very small spattering of stories on the incident, all linked to one single story, all of which are from small unknown news sites.

How is this possible? How does a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist from the New York Times go missing in Afghanistan and then missing in any credible news reports?

The reports say that in November Rohde went missing, with driver and interpreter, in Logar province some 50 miles south of Kabul. This report has been confirmed as true by the Kabul-based reporter, so I am assuming it is correct.

So what’s up with the hush hush?

According to said reporter, the concern is due to the obvious issues involved with terrorism and kidnappings: Reports could put his life in danger or reports could embolden the Taliban to kidnap more journalists, etc… So there is apparently a debate among Kabul journalists as what to do and how to handle the story. It is a story, you know.

I realize that sounds callous, but I think it is a dangerous thing when the press censors itself; when rules for everyone else do not apply to the press, that is what bothers me.

With that said, I wish all three men a safe return and seriously hope no harm befalls them, but to cover it up because Mr. Rohde is one of their own, is simply inexcusable. Afterall, it is a story.