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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Lyse Doucet still in Kabul

211 replies

everythingthelighttouches · 30/08/2021 22:25

I know she regularly reports from dangerous places but am I the only person to be surprised that Lyse Doucet is still in Kabul? How on Earth will she get out? She must be a target for ISIS?

OP posts:
PicsInRed · 30/08/2021 23:05

@WhyOhWhyOhWhyyyy

Although the Taliban seem to want to be showing (the West at least) that they’ve changed so targeting her probably doesn’t tie in with that line.
I doubt ISIS K give a bollock though or most of the Taliban on the ground.

It isn't sensible for any journalists to be on the ground there any longer. Remember John Cantlie?

GLTM · 30/08/2021 23:06

@HemanOrSheRa a fascinating read thank you.

I wonder if there's protection from the Qataris?

She's amazing isn't she. So brave.

AdoptedBumpkin · 30/08/2021 23:06

I wondered this tonight. She must be a tough cookie.

RhubarbCustardy · 30/08/2021 23:07

I thought the same! Journalists must have a different mindset. I can't imagine staying there if I could get out. I suppose she chose to stay?

SwedishEdith · 30/08/2021 23:07

What about Secunder Kermani - is he there too?

He's tweeted this evening but not clear if he's filmed what he's shared or someone else. But both him and LD are extremely brave.

gardeninggirl68 · 30/08/2021 23:08

@TokyoSushi

She was reporting from Dubai about a week/10 days ago and I thought oh thank goodness, she's out.

So she's actually gone in, knowing how horrific it is, she's incredible and incredibly brave.

Has she gone in alone?

I think it's ridiculous and not 'brave' at all

Watapalava · 30/08/2021 23:08

Hmmm not sure on this

Surely she will at some point put other lives at risk who try to get her out etc

Watapalava · 30/08/2021 23:09

She should have been ordered out

They become targets which others have to rescue

AntiSocialDistancer · 30/08/2021 23:15

I absolutely love listening to her, I always stop what I'm doing to hear what she has to say.

nc5698 · 30/08/2021 23:20

Lyse is an absolute machine. Totally fearless and devoted to her job.

I could listen to her voice all day too, so calming 😌

Doodlebug71 · 30/08/2021 23:25

she has contacts, and will be staying in a safe place. She has considerably more experience of reporting from war zones than anyone on MN does. She'll know if and when it's time to leave.

Doodlebug71 · 30/08/2021 23:27

She knows what she's doing. By way of example: www.jla.co.uk/conference-speakers/lyse-doucet

Empressofthemundane · 30/08/2021 23:29

I just said the same thing to my husband.

The British and American militaries have left. How will she fat out?

ginswinger · 30/08/2021 23:30

I would imagine she is very skilled in negotiating a bribe to get to where she needs to be. That's not a derisive comment but some countries work differently to the UK and a splash of cash can get you in and out of places with some safety.

Unfashionable · 30/08/2021 23:32

Lyse is very experienced, I’m sure she knows exactly what she’s doing. She’s incredibly brave, though. Even Stuart Ramsay of Sky who had been reporting from the airport all day every day since the Taliban entered Kabul got out a few days ago.

Bipbopboo66 · 30/08/2021 23:36

She must have lots of contacts.
If needed, she will be taken out by land.
She is absolutely phenomenal.
Standing in the panicked Afgans. Telling their stories.
Journalists are a different breed. If a story needs telling, thats what they will do.
This story needs telling.
I wish her to be safe, but do what she wants.

honeybeesknees · 30/08/2021 23:38

I was wondering exactly the same thing, and actually googled this earlier, but couldn’t find an answer as to whether she would get out!

ACloseMatch · 30/08/2021 23:41

I am hoping she had a bullet proof vest under her raincoat!

snowballer · 30/08/2021 23:46

I think it's ridiculous and not 'brave' at all

Why do you think it's ridiculous? Without fearless journalism, stories from dangerous places don't get told. I think she's monumentally brave. It's also not like she's a brand new reporter on her first job... I'm fairly sure she has a network of contacts to help her if she needs it.

Frazzled2207 · 30/08/2021 23:47

She’s an amazing woman for staying.
Fairly sure she would have been given a seat on a plane out if she wanted it.

pucelleauxblanchesmains · 30/08/2021 23:49

I've been wondering this as well - I assumed she'd have got out today but apparently not.

airforsharon · 30/08/2021 23:51

I commented on a Twitter post about her earlier on, and Lyse has just liked my comment. So she's safe & well for now! All fingers crossed she stays so.

JaniceBattersby · 30/08/2021 23:53

It’s not ridiculous. This is literally the job of foreign correspondents and has been throughout history. To report untold stories to the wider world.

Without people like Lyse the only things we’d be seeing from inside Afghanistan would be Taliban propaganda. The stories of all those normal Afghans would never be told and the true horror of what’s about to happen there would remain a secret. Reporters like Lyse and the many that have gone before her force governments to take action. They literally change lives.

PicsInRed · 30/08/2021 23:54

@Unfashionable

Lyse is very experienced, I’m sure she knows exactly what she’s doing. She’s incredibly brave, though. Even Stuart Ramsay of Sky who had been reporting from the airport all day every day since the Taliban entered Kabul got out a few days ago.
He was effectively forced to leave by the British authorities, told he was going to put on a plane and that was that (and wisely so).

I'm not sure how she's got around the round up and ejection, but I hope it works out as the alternative is grim.

I would imagine she is very skilled in negotiating a bribe to get to where she needs to be

She's worth far more as a hostage (including in cash paid to the taker) than any bribe money she has on her.

PicsInRed · 30/08/2021 23:55

*told he was going, and then put on a plane