Award-winning journalist Roy Gutman weaves a narrative that exposes how and why the U.S. government, the United Nations, and the Western media "missed the story" in the leadup to 9/11. 

In HOW WE MISSED THE STORY: Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, and the Hijacking of Afghanistan (January 2008, United States Institute of Peace Press; $26.00), award-winning journalist Roy Gutman weaves a narrative that exposes how and why the U.S. government, the United Nations, and the Western media "missed the story" in the leadup to 9/11.

Focusing principally on events in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s, Gutman argues that U.S. foreign policy had essentially died. According to Gutman, the U.S. government categorization of bin Laden’s murderous assaults prior to 9/11 as "terrorism" was not so much an intelligence or military failure but rather a strategic failure of U.S. foreign policy—a failure that penetrated every level of the U.S. foreign affairs hierarchy. Two presidents, greater law enforcement including the CIA and the FBI, upper level political appointees, experts, and skilled civil servants relied on quick-fix, counter-terrorism tactics to end the threats from Osama bin Laden. Assuming that the public would not support a long-term, broad spectrum approach, the government opted to develop a counter-terror policy—when a more comprehensive foreign policy was needed—and inadvertently fueled the very fire it was trying to fight.

"When government believes military power and law enforcement can destroy a movement based on purported political grievance, it underestimates the task and gives new sustenance to the movement. Underestimating the task is the characteristic of this story," writes Gutman. Gutman critically reviews the media’s role, or lack thereof, during this period. He writes: "The news media’s absence from the scene prior to 9/11 is one of the great lapses in the modern history of the profession. The principle of watchdog journalism is that if the door is closed or a government restricts the media, ‘That is where I want to be.’" The lesson for the media is to report in depth from far-flung places where the United States does not have an active policy as well as from those places where it does.

Drawing on his own original research and extensive interviews with key players, Gutman offers the inside perspective of a member of the media with comprehensive, journalistic coverage and style.

 

 

 

 

Related Publications

Elite Capture and Corruption of Security Sectors

Elite Capture and Corruption of Security Sectors

Friday, February 17, 2023

By: Elite Capture and Corruption of Security Sectors Working Group

The objective of US security sector assistance is to help build effective, accountable, responsive, transparent, and legitimate security sectors in partner nations to address common security risks. Such action ultimately benefits US national interests, as when the United States modernized West Germany’s military during the Cold War; when US security sector support to South Korea helped the United States deter regional threats; and when, in Ukraine, US security sector assistance contributed to success in fending off Russian aggression in 2022. Similarly, the United States helped Georgia turn its traffic police into one of the most trusted institutions in the country, supported Albania as it updated the governance of its security forces, and assisted Colombia in making progress toward ending its long-standing armed conflict. 

Type: Report

Justice, Security & Rule of Law

Is Pakistan Poised to Take on the TTP?

Is Pakistan Poised to Take on the TTP?

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

By: Asfandyar Mir, Ph.D.;  Tamanna Salikuddin;  Andrew Watkins

The Pakistani Taliban’s late January attack in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, claimed the lives of more than 100 worshipping at a police compound mosque. The bombing was claimed by a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban) initially, but later denied by the TTP’s central leadership. It was the group’s deadliest attack since its 2021 resurgence after the Afghan Taliban took power in Afghanistan. As Pakistan struggles with a major economic crisis, the fallout from the deadly floods of last fall and an ever-turbulent political scene, the TTP’s growing threat presents yet another challenge for the struggling nation.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Conflict Analysis & PreventionViolent Extremism

The Latest @ USIP: Religious Inclusion in Afghanistan

The Latest @ USIP: Religious Inclusion in Afghanistan

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

By: Charles Ramsey

The Taliban often use religious arguments to justify their claim to authority. But the Taliban are just one aspect of Afghanistan, and the caretaker government has failed to justify many of its more draconian policies — especially those against women and girls. Charles Ramsey, a resident scholar at Baylor University's Institute for the Studies of Religion and a senior fellow at the Religious Freedom Institute, discusses the role that other religious actors in Afghanistan can play in shaping the country’s future and how positively engaging with these religious leaders can contribute to building peace.

Type: Blog

Peace ProcessesReligion

Wrestling with a Humanitarian Dilemma in Afghanistan

Wrestling with a Humanitarian Dilemma in Afghanistan

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

By: William Byrd, Ph.D.

Recent decrees by the Taliban barring Afghan women from attending university or working in NGOs are severely damaging the country both socially and economically, especially coming atop a ban on girls’ secondary education last year. The marginalization of half the population also highlights the “humanitarian dilemma” that aid donors and international agencies face: Afghanistan is highly dependent on humanitarian assistance, not only for saving lives and easing deprivation but also to stabilize its economy. The quandary for international donors is what to do when alleviating suffering benefits the Afghan economy and thereby the Taliban regime, even when that regime is harming its own people?

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Economics

View All Publications