What do you think?
Rate this book
Les Brouillards De La Guerre: Dernière Mission En Afghanistan
Interrogée lors d’une émission de télévision québécoise sur ses reportages hors normes dans des guerres où il ne fait pas bon être journaliste, Anne Nivat séduit si bien son auditoire que, le lendemain, elle est invitée par un officier canadien, sur le point de partir en mission de combat en Afghanistan, à venir parler à ses hommes. Non seulement elle accepte, mais elle obtient de le rejoindre sur le théâtre d’opérations dans la très hostile zone de Kandahar, ex-capitale mythique des taliban, qu’elle connaît bien pour l’avoir sillonnée à sa façon depuis dix ans, intégrée dans la population locale et protégée par celle-ci.
Sur place, Anne Nivat, troque avec courage et discrétion le gilet pare-balles contre un châdri qui la soustrait aux regards sans l’empêcher d’observer, et multiplie les allers-retours entre les acteurs de cette drôle de guerre : militaires alliés, armée locale à l’incertaine loyauté, administration hypercorrompue du président Hamid Karzai, sympathisants taliban, ex-moudjahidine, profiteurs de guerre en tous genres, candidats à l’exil, qui lui font partager leur vision du conflit. Grâce à elle, nous nous glissons dans l’envers du décor, loin des images officielles ou convenues.
A travers ce double regard unique et troublant - côté militaire et côté population - qui aide enfin à en saisir les rouages et les enjeux, Anne Nivat, encore sur le terrain en mai 2011, livre ici un grand document sur l’interminable guerre d’Afghanistan.
Anne Nivat est grand reporter indépendante. En 2000, elle a obtenu le prix Albert-Londres pour Chienne de guerre, son récit de la seconde guerre de Tchétchénie. Depuis le 11-Septembre, elle arpente seule et sans protection les théâtres d’opérations les plus dangereux, de l’ex-URSS à l’Asie centrale, de l’Afghanistan à l’Irak. Auteur de nombreux livres, tous publiés aux éditions Fayard, elle collabore, entre autres, au Point, à l’International Herald Tribune à la revue de reportages Feuilleton, et participe à l’émission AgÔra sur France Ô.
Sur place, Anne Nivat, troque avec courage et discrétion le gilet pare-balles contre un châdri qui la soustrait aux regards sans l’empêcher d’observer, et multiplie les allers-retours entre les acteurs de cette drôle de guerre : militaires alliés, armée locale à l’incertaine loyauté, administration hypercorrompue du président Hamid Karzai, sympathisants taliban, ex-moudjahidine, profiteurs de guerre en tous genres, candidats à l’exil, qui lui font partager leur vision du conflit. Grâce à elle, nous nous glissons dans l’envers du décor, loin des images officielles ou convenues.
A travers ce double regard unique et troublant - côté militaire et côté population - qui aide enfin à en saisir les rouages et les enjeux, Anne Nivat, encore sur le terrain en mai 2011, livre ici un grand document sur l’interminable guerre d’Afghanistan.
Anne Nivat est grand reporter indépendante. En 2000, elle a obtenu le prix Albert-Londres pour Chienne de guerre, son récit de la seconde guerre de Tchétchénie. Depuis le 11-Septembre, elle arpente seule et sans protection les théâtres d’opérations les plus dangereux, de l’ex-URSS à l’Asie centrale, de l’Afghanistan à l’Irak. Auteur de nombreux livres, tous publiés aux éditions Fayard, elle collabore, entre autres, au Point, à l’International Herald Tribune à la revue de reportages Feuilleton, et participe à l’émission AgÔra sur France Ô.
- GenresHistory
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
1 person is currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Anne Nivat
28 books14 followersAnne Nivat is an award-winning French journalist and war correspondent who has covered conflicts in Chechnya, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She is known for interviews and character portraits in print of civilians, especially women, and their experiences of war.
Nivat completed her doctorate in political science after education at Paris Institute of Political Studies, or Sciences Po, in Paris.
Anne Nivat became an expert on Russia politics. Her first book was about Russian media during the period of glasnost in the former Soviet Union, the dissolution of country, and the aftermath until 1995 (Anne Nivat, Quand les médias russes ont pris la parole : de la glasnost à la liberté d'expression: 1985-1995, published in 1997). After a stay at Harvard University in the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies (1997-1998), she went to Russia and reported from Chechnya in 1999.
She said she was influenced by Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński, whom she later met before his death, and the well-known Italian journalist Curzio Malaparte, who covered the Eastern front during World War II and wrote his accounts in the books 'Kaputt' (1944) and 'The Skin' (1949).
She speaks several languages besides her native French and learned Russian and English, as well
as a working knowledge of Arabic.
Nivat began her reporting career at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Transitions magazine in Prague, where she worked for three years between 1995 and 1997, including a stint under Michael Kaufman, a New York Times foreign correspondent and editor, while he was on leave.
As a journalist, Anne Nivat is most known for her reporting from Chechnya in 1999-2000 where she worked for Ouest France and as a special correspondent for Libération. Nivat traveled to Moscow in September 1999, and when the Russians invaded Chechnya, she applied as a journalist for access but was denied. She gained access to the war zone by traveling there disguised as a Chechen woman and reported independently from Russian control. Nivat was in Chechnya for 4 months while she intermingled and blended with the local population and reported on the conflict during a ban on journalists until she was picked up by the Russian Federal Security Service and expelled. She says she believes her success in Chechnya was based on several factors:
The fact that I am a woman helped me a great deal covering this war. No one pays attention to a woman. Whereas if you are a man, you might be arrested at any time. Also, Dan (Williams, Moscow correspondent for the Washington Post,) doesn't speak Russian. The three elements which played in my favor were the fact that I speak Russian, the fact that I am a woman, and the fact that I am a part of the written press — I didn't need microphones. And the fourth element is luck.
Chechnya is where she began her career as a war correspondent, and she said it was also her worst war experience as she survived Russian military bombardment.
Since 2004, she has worked for Le Point, a weekly French news magazine, and has also written for Le Soir and Le Nouvel Observateur, as well as the French Huffington Post. Her English-language journalism has appeared in the USA Today, US News & World Report, Washington Post, New York Times, and Nieman Reports. For the New York Times, she wrote a piece called "Life in the 'red zone'", which is about her experiences as a war correspondent in Iraq and is included in her French-language book about Iraq. She has also written about Afghanistan by comparing the Canadian soldiers who invited her to their camp and the civilians with whom they dealt.
In 2012, her Russian visa was annulled and she was expelled once again shortly after an interview with the Russian opposition and before the presidential election. Days later, the immigration officer was fired and the Russian ambassador apologized and invited Nivat back to Russia. Her account was published by the New York Times.
Nivat completed her doctorate in political science after education at Paris Institute of Political Studies, or Sciences Po, in Paris.
Anne Nivat became an expert on Russia politics. Her first book was about Russian media during the period of glasnost in the former Soviet Union, the dissolution of country, and the aftermath until 1995 (Anne Nivat, Quand les médias russes ont pris la parole : de la glasnost à la liberté d'expression: 1985-1995, published in 1997). After a stay at Harvard University in the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies (1997-1998), she went to Russia and reported from Chechnya in 1999.
She said she was influenced by Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński, whom she later met before his death, and the well-known Italian journalist Curzio Malaparte, who covered the Eastern front during World War II and wrote his accounts in the books 'Kaputt' (1944) and 'The Skin' (1949).
She speaks several languages besides her native French and learned Russian and English, as well
as a working knowledge of Arabic.
Nivat began her reporting career at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Transitions magazine in Prague, where she worked for three years between 1995 and 1997, including a stint under Michael Kaufman, a New York Times foreign correspondent and editor, while he was on leave.
As a journalist, Anne Nivat is most known for her reporting from Chechnya in 1999-2000 where she worked for Ouest France and as a special correspondent for Libération. Nivat traveled to Moscow in September 1999, and when the Russians invaded Chechnya, she applied as a journalist for access but was denied. She gained access to the war zone by traveling there disguised as a Chechen woman and reported independently from Russian control. Nivat was in Chechnya for 4 months while she intermingled and blended with the local population and reported on the conflict during a ban on journalists until she was picked up by the Russian Federal Security Service and expelled. She says she believes her success in Chechnya was based on several factors:
The fact that I am a woman helped me a great deal covering this war. No one pays attention to a woman. Whereas if you are a man, you might be arrested at any time. Also, Dan (Williams, Moscow correspondent for the Washington Post,) doesn't speak Russian. The three elements which played in my favor were the fact that I speak Russian, the fact that I am a woman, and the fact that I am a part of the written press — I didn't need microphones. And the fourth element is luck.
Chechnya is where she began her career as a war correspondent, and she said it was also her worst war experience as she survived Russian military bombardment.
Since 2004, she has worked for Le Point, a weekly French news magazine, and has also written for Le Soir and Le Nouvel Observateur, as well as the French Huffington Post. Her English-language journalism has appeared in the USA Today, US News & World Report, Washington Post, New York Times, and Nieman Reports. For the New York Times, she wrote a piece called "Life in the 'red zone'", which is about her experiences as a war correspondent in Iraq and is included in her French-language book about Iraq. She has also written about Afghanistan by comparing the Canadian soldiers who invited her to their camp and the civilians with whom they dealt.
In 2012, her Russian visa was annulled and she was expelled once again shortly after an interview with the Russian opposition and before the presidential election. Days later, the immigration officer was fired and the Russian ambassador apologized and invited Nivat back to Russia. Her account was published by the New York Times.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 8, 2019
Davantage un long article de presse écrite qu'une analyse complète de la situation, ce livre a du moins la valeur d'avoir été écrit par une des rares journalistes à avoir écouté le discours de chacun des côtés de ce conflit (si on veut réduire la complexité du conflit afghan entre Talibans et Occidentaux, bien que la réalité soit beaucoup plus complexe).
October 29, 2011
Cela fait plus de dix ans que Georges Bush a lance une action militaire en Afghanistan, mais qu'en pensent au juste les afghans? En quoi l'operation militaire a t'elle change leur vie? Anne Nivat, une des rares journalistes occidentales qui ait le courage d'aller au contact de la population nous éclaire sur le gâchis de cette guerre bientôt éclipsée par les opérations en Irak. Une saine lecture qui donne avoir la complexité de la situation et laisse parler ceux qu'on entend jamais. Un bel exemple de journalisme.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews