Matthew Rosenberg

Matthew Rosenberg (born Aug. 2, 1974) is an American journalist who writes about Afghanistan and Pakistan for The New York Times.

Since joining The Times in 2011, Mr. Rosenberg’s stories have included one of the few detailed accounts of an attack by Afghan soldiers on their American allies,[1] and a look at how Iran has skirted American-imposed sanctions by buying up dollars in Afghanistan,[2] which is awash in hard currency after a decade of massive American cash infusions. He also covered Afghanistan’s first international boxing match, which he christened the Squabble in Kabul.[3]

On April 29, 2013, the Times published an investigative report by Mr. Rosenberg detailing how the Central Intelligence Agency had delivered bags of cash to the offices of Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, for more than a decade.[4] Mr. Karzai acknowledged the payments the day the story appeared, and he thanked the C.I.A. for providing the money.[5]

Mr. Rosenberg was a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal prior to joining The Times. While at The Journal, he interviewed Sirajuddin Haqqani,[6] the leader of what is considered one of Afghanistan’s most potent insurgent factions, and uncovered the massive amount of cash that flows daily through Kabul’s airport, prompting the temporary suspension of $3.9 billion in American aid to Afghanistan.[7][8] He also was part of the Journal team that covered the 2008 attack on Mumbai.[9]

Rosenberg has also worked for The Associated Press, serving as a foreign correspondent in India, East Africa and the Caribbean.

He holds a Bachelor's degree from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Rosenberg is currently splits his time between Kabul and Washington, DC. He was born in New York.

Controversies

On November 5, 2009, The Nation newspaper in Pakistan printed a front page story that falsely accused Rosenberg of being a spy. The story claimed that Rosenberg worked for the CIA, the U.S. security contractor formerly known as Blackwater and had ties to Israeli intelligence.”[10]

Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Robert Thomson wrote to the editor the Nation, Shireen Mazari, to protest the false story about Rosenberg soon after the article appeared.[11] The Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Pearl, kidnapped and killed in 2002 in Pakistan, was labelled a Jewish spy in a similar manner by some sections of Pakistani media before his death.

Twenty-one editors from the world's major international news organizations also signed a letter of protest, criticizing the unsubstantiated article for compromising Rosenberg's security.[12]

Rosenberg was questioned by Afghanistan's attorney general's office and banned from leaving Afghanistan after writing an article on a possible interim government.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "As Trained Afghans Turn Enemy, a U.S.-Led Imperative Is in Peril" The New York Times, 16 May 2012
  2. ↑ "Iranian Currency Traders Find a Haven in Afghanistan" The New York Times, 17 August 2012
  3. ↑ "In This Corner, a Much-Needed Distraction" The New York Times, 31 October 2012
  4. ↑ "With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan" The New York Times, 29 April 2013
  5. ↑ "Afghan Leader Confirms Cash Deliveries by C.I.A." The New York Times 30 April 2013
  6. ↑ "New Wave of Warlords Bedevils U.S." Wall Street Journal, 20 January 2010
  7. ↑ "Corruption Suspected in Airlift of Billions in Cash From Kabul" Wall Street Journal, 28 June 2010
  8. ↑ "Afghan Aid on Hold as Corruption Is Probed" Wall Street Journal, 29 June 2010
  9. ↑ "India Security Faulted as Survivors Tell of Terror" Wall Street Journal 1 December 2008
  10. ↑ “Journalists as spies in FATA?” The Nation, 5 November 2009
  11. ↑ "Letter from WSJ to Mazari", "Committee to Protect Journalists", 6 November 2009
  12. ↑ "Letter about The Nation article" "Committee to Protect Journalists", 16 November 2009
  13. ↑ "Afghan Officials Interrogate Times Correspondent" The New York Times, 19 August 2014

External links