Jean MacKenzie, senior correspondent for GlobalPost, discusses her article on why the March 11 Kandahar massacre is much more surprising to Americans than Afghans; the success of US night raids in killing mid-level Taliban commanders – who are quickly replaced by younger, more hardcore fighters; the lack of a US endgame strategy, other than spinning withdrawal as a “victory;” and Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s odds of survival without US backing.
MP3 here. (19:30)
Jean MacKenzie is a senior correspondent for GlobalPost formerly based in Kabul, Afghanistan. After five years as program director for the Institute for War & Peace Reporting in Kabul, she is now working as a journalist trainer and consultant. Her work has taken her to the farthest corners of Afghanistan, where she has met hundreds of Afghans from all walks of life. She has created a network of Afghan reporters who can gather news and information from all over the country, lending an all-important local perspective to coverage of the conflict there.
MacKenzie has forged a reputation as an analyst and commentator, contributing frequently to broadcast and online projects, including National Public Radio, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., CNN, and the Australian Broadcasting Corp. She spent nearly two years in Helmand Province, where she covered the Taliban insurgency as well as the booming poppy industry. Prior to moving to Afghanistan, MacKenzie spent more than a decade in Moscow, where she worked for a variety of newspapers. She began her career as a journalist with the Moscow Times in 1992, branching out to write for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor, Newsday and the Boston Globe.