Bette Dam Explained

Bette Dam is an investigative journalist[1] [2] professor at Sciences Po[3] and author of Looking for the Enemy the unknown story of the Taliban, which describes the life of the most unknown leader of the world, mullah Omar.[4] [5] [6]

Professional career

Dam is notable for writing more complex, and diverse stories on terrorism. In 2009, she published the unknown story of the then Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and how he came to power immediately after 09/11.[7] As one of the first journalists, Dam shows that there were strong signs that the so-called war on terrorism in Afghanistan could have been over in December 2001, with a surrender-offer of the Taliban.[8] [9] Dam also describes how the United States government, under the leadership of George Bush at that time, was ‘too emotional’ to accept this, and started the military intervention instead.[10] [11] [12]

In Looking for the Enemy,[13] [14] Dam discloses for the first time the long unknown hiding place of mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban.[15] [16] Like Osama bin Laden who lived next to a Pakistan Military Academy, mullah Omar lived not far from an American Forward Operating Base in Southern Afghanistan (Zabul), she claims.[17] [18] [19] The news attracted attention. There were compliments, and at the same time disbelief. The Afghan government who had claimed mullah Omar to be in Pakistan, wrote that Dam was ‘delusional’.[20] [21] General David Petreaus responded in The Wall Street Journal, saying that he still believed mullah Omar had been hiding in Pakistan. Yet, Dam her work has not been proven wrong. The Guardian stated that Dam her work ‘is something the CIA was not able to do’.[18] Foreign Affairs reviewed her work and stated that ‘the West still doesn't understand the Taliban’.[22]

Since 2017, Dam has been a professor at Sciences Po, in Paris. Her teaching is about detecting Western biases in global coverage, and how to prevent this. She also lectured at several universities and for governments. In 2020 she lectured at Oxford University at All Souls College.[23]

Dam has appeared in media such as the BBC,[24] CNN and The Guardian.[25] [14] [4] She was nominated the best investigative journalist of the year in 2020.[26]

Her first book were nominated for the Bob den Uyl Award[27] and for the Dick Scherpenzeel award.[28]

As an Author

Early life and education

From 2002 to 2005, Dam studied political science with a specialization in International Relations at the University of Amsterdam.[22]

In 2019, Dam started her PhD at the University of Brussels. Dam writes an auto-ethnographic study about her journalistic experiences in Afghanistan and compares it to the journalistic productions of legacy media like, the New York Times and Associated Press on Afghanistan.[32]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Desk . NNPS . 2023-05-30 . Balanced media crucial to bring peace in Afghanistan: Bette Dam . 2024-01-28 . en-US.
  2. Web site: looking for the enemy bette dam unravels the myth of mullah omar .
  3. Web site: 'I want people to question the war on terror' – DW – 03/14/2019 . 2024-01-28 . dw.com . en.
  4. Web site: Bette Dam Journalismfund Europe . 2024-01-28 . www.journalismfund.eu . en.
  5. Web site: Bette Dam Archives . 2024-01-28 . Afghanistan Analysts Network – English . ps-GB.
  6. Web site: AFP . 2019-03-11 . Mullah Omar never visited Pakistan after 9/11 — let alone die there, new biography claims . 2024-01-28 . DAWN.COM . en.
  7. Web site: Dam . Bette . 2022-04-19 . Talking to the enemy: what can it bring? . 2024-01-30 . Bette's Newsletter.
  8. Web site: The American War in Afghanistan . 2024-01-30 . global.oup.com.
  9. Web site: Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of victory .
  10. Book: Dam, Bette . A Man and a Motorcycle: How Hamid Karzai Became Afghanistan's President . 2014 . Ipso Facto Publishers . 978-90-77386-13-2 . en.
  11. Web site: Dam . Bette . 2022-05-04 . (Part 1) How to report on ISIS-attacks? . 2024-01-29 . Bette's Newsletter.
  12. Web site: No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes . 2024-01-30 . National Book Foundation . en-US.
  13. News: 2019-03-11 . Dutch writer claims Mullah Omar lived within walking distance of U.S. base in Afghanistan . 2024-01-28 . Khaama Press . en-US.
  14. Web site: 2019-03-24 . Searching for enemy: Dutch author awaits evidence on Mullah Omar's death . 2024-01-28 . Daily Times . en-US.
  15. Web site: 2023-05-30 . Author highlights intricacies of Mullah Omar's life, western media's distortion on Afghanistan . 2024-01-28 . Dunya News . en.
  16. Web site: 2019-03-13 . Mullah Mohammad Omar's final days: how new book contests US claims . 2024-01-28 . The Indian Express . en.
  17. Web site: Bette Dam . 2024-01-29 . WSPS . en-US.
  18. News: Graham-Harrison . Emma . 2019-03-10 . Fugitive Taliban leader lived short walk from US base, book reveals . 2024-01-30 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  19. Web site: the-last-days-of-taliban-head-mullah-omar .
  20. Web site: Dam . Bette . 2022-04-19 . Talking to the enemy: what can it bring? . 2024-01-29 . Bette's Newsletter.
  21. Web site: 2019-03-11 . Kabul Rejects ‘Delusional Claim’ Mullah Omar Died in Afghanistan . 2024-01-30 . Voice of America . en.
  22. Book: Bette Dam – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio Audible.com . en-US.
  23. Web site: T. E. Lawrence Program on Conflict and Violence All Souls College . 2024-01-30 . www.asc.ox.ac.uk.
  24. News: 2019-03-10 . Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar 'lived close to US bases' . 2024-01-28 . en-GB.
  25. News: Graham-Harrison . Emma . 2019-03-10 . Fugitive Taliban leader lived short walk from US base, book reveals . 2024-01-28 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  26. Web site: 2020-09-28 . Bette Dam wint de loep met haar boek 'Op zoek naar de vijand' – De Bezige Bij . 2024-01-30 . nl-NL.
  27. Web site: 2010-04-02 . Genomineerden VPRO Bob den Uyl Prijs 2010 aan het woord . 2024-01-30 . VPRO . nl.
  28. Web site: Villamedia . Genomineerden Scherpenzeel-prijs bekend / Villamedia . 2024-01-30 . Villamedia – Website over journalistiek . nl.
  29. Book: Dam, Bette . The Secret Life of Mullah Omar . 2019 . Zomia Center . en.
  30. Book: Dam, Bette . Looking for the Enemy: Mullah Omar and the Unknown Taliban . 2021 . HarperCollins Publishers India . 978-93-5489-279-0 . en.
  31. Web site: 2019-03-11 . Kabul Rejects 'Delusional Claim' Mullah Omar Died in Afghanistan . 2024-01-28 . Voice of America . en.
  32. Web site: Bette Dam . 2024-01-28 . Vrije Universiteit Brussel . en.

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