Afghanistan: America's Longest War 

The Pentagon is once again pouring American troops into Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from consolidating power. But the Americans have yet to fathom the murky and ever-shifting alliances among the Taliban, the Haqqani network, Al Qaeda and other non-state players. The challenge of establishing stability in Afghanistan, much less democracy, is further compounded by intervention from Pakistan and India, and more recently from Iran and Russia. What is the way forward?

All are welcome. But if you cover or have covered Afghanistan, please consider this event an informal reunion and forward this invitation to  your colleagues and friends.

Panelists:

Kathy Gannon is senior correspondent for Pakistan and Afghanistan for The Associated Press and is based in Islamabad, Pakistan. She has covered the region since 1987 and was the only western journalist in Taliban- ruled Afghanistan during the U.S.-led invasion that followed the 9/11 attacks. She was attacked and wounded while covering an election in Afghanistan in 2014.

David Rohde is  the online news director for The New Yorker, a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize  and a former reporter at Reuters and The New York Times. He was kidnapped by the Taliban in 2008, escaping after 7 months. He is the author, with Kristen Mulvihill, of “A Rope and a Prayer: A Kidnapping from Two Sides.”

Jere Van Dyk covered the Afghan- Soviet  war for The New York Times  in the early 1980s, living with what is today called the Haqqani network. In 2008 he was kidnapped and held for ransom for 45 days. His book, ”Captive,” describes  that ordeal. His new book, “THE TRADE: My Journey into the Labyrinth of Political Kidnapping,” is being released the day of the event and will be available for purchase.

Moderator: Willam J. Holstein covered the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979 and was one of the American journalists placed under house arrest and deported for "interfering in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation." He has authored seven books and is president of the OPC Foundation.