I remember when the U.S. armed forces left Afghanistan and watching the truly unbelievable scenes of people clinging onto an airplane, trying to escape. It seemed like a terrifying end to a terrifying conflict, with a terrifying aftermath as well. What was missing in the immediate aftermath news coverage, I thought, was the human aspect, while most American news outlets focused on the American angle. I remember a few stories of Afghans who helped the American military struggling to get out of the country and fearing the wrath of the Taliban. Those stories faded from view and I, like many Americans, moved on to other stories.

This week’s stories are what I was looking for. While the PBS NewsHour piece was nice context, for the most part, reading Khan’s two-article series was incredibly eye-opening. It was what I thought was happening, confirmed. My favorite stories combine public records and on-the-ground reporting, and that’s exactly what this was. I’m honestly about surprised Khan was able to get the Pentagon records, and I’m glad she supported it with in-person reporting. I think Khan summarized the first article very succinctly in the second article: the documents showed “not a series of tragic errors but a pattern of impunity.” And then the stories of the survivors only add to that claim of a “pattern of impunity.” It is a great example of combining records and on-the-ground reporting to get a complete picture and tell an otherwise untold, important, story of American military failure.

I also appreciated the podcast from The Breakfast Sisters and hearing from the migrants themselves, these being resilient women who were artists and journalists – defiant in the face of the Taliban and forced to flee when the Americans left Afghanistan. It was also nice to her about Restore Her Voice  and the women that they helped. I also enjoyed reading the PBS article about the refugees in St. Louis, and how they’ve adapted. The Migration Policy article was interesting too, but I feel like the data can only go so far – there were no interviews! Which I suppose isn’t their goal; they’re not a news organization. Perhaps combining the Migration Policy and PBS articles would have satisfied me more: reading the data, and then hearing from the people that comprise the data (though St. Louis was not one of the places that was on the top destinations map, but no matter).