Covering the War, with Saad Mohseni

Saad Mohseni is one of Afghanistan’s most influential businesspeople, and the co-founder of it’s most popular television network, TOLO TV.He is the son of an Afghan diplomat who, soon after the 1979 Soviet invasion, sought political asylum in Australia. There, he worked in finance until the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, when he returned to Kabul with his brothers in search of business opportunities.The three brothers founded MOBY Group in 2003, and within a couple of years had established Arman FM, Afghanistan’s first privately owned radio station, a revelation in a country where music and independent news had been banned under the Taliban regime, and by far it’s most popular radio show today.Next, came TOLO TV, which produced its 15th season of the hit music talent show Afghan Star this year. The Pashto language Lemar TV  came in 2006 and then, in 2010, TOLO News, Afghanistan’s first 24 hour television news network and, again, the country's most popular today.I spoke with Mohseni the same day intra-Afghan talks were getting underway in Doha, and asked him whether he still felt, as he said a year ago, whether the US had thrown Afghanistan under a bus in an effort to end its military involvement in the country. We talked about his lack of confidence in the team negotiating on behalf of the Afghan government, and his belief that at least a minimal U.S. military presence should remain in the country to ensure agreements between all parties are adhered to and, just as importantly, to keep Afghanistan’s neighbours in check.Mohseni talks about the slow creep of progress since 2001, how he sees hope for the future in former hardline Taliban who’ve come off the battlefield into modern lives in Kabul and now own TV sets and watch Turkish soap-operas in the evening. We discuss corruption and striking a balance between retaining Afghan culture while pushing for progress through his efforts to encourage critical thinking and integrating women into public life and the economy. And, finally, we talk about the inherent practical and ethical difficulties faced by the media in an environment where one side has declared it a legitimate military target, and about the future of the media industry in Afghanistan at a time when the international funding that props it up is beginning to disappear.Click here to view the TOLO News documentary Daesh in Afghanistan.

Om Podcasten

In February this year, the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement that charted a path to ending nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan. If all goes according to plan—and there is much to suggest it won’t—all foreign forces will depart in spring, 2021. Meanwhile, long-awaited intra-Afghan negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban are underway, once again in Doha.What will happen next? Will the Taliban uphold its side of the agreement with the U.S.? Will Trump even wait to find out? Will the Taliban concede to a ceasefire with the Afghan National Security Forces? And can President Ghani cling to power and steer the country toward peace? If the agreement fails, or indeed if it succeeds, how will history judge the United States for its role in Afghanistan? And what future will be left behind for Afghans who have variously thrived in, endured and raged against the well-intentioned occupation? As Afghanistan teeters, yet again, on a precipice between hope and despair, Afghanistan After America dissects the issues driving the decisions made in Washington D.C., Kabul, Doha and Quetta, and how they’re playing out on both sides of the battlefield, in the streets and inside homes, mosques and businesses across Afghanistan and beyond. Afghanistan After America draws from events of the past that continue to affect the present and explores Afghanistan’s rich and fraught history through some of those who’ve survived to tell their tales. Afghanistan After America is hosted by Andrew Quilty, an Australian journalist who has lived in Afghanistan since 2013 and reported from most of its provinces, collecting numerous accolades for his work along the way. Afghanistan After America is a place for conversations that go beyond the limits of mainstream media audiences. His guests are Afghans and outsiders from all walks of life with unique and confronting perspectives; they are leading analysts, thought-leaders, humanitarians, journalists, veterans and decision-makers from up and down the numerous tangled chains of command.