CNN reporter Jake Tapper gave a talk on his new book The Outpost, detailing one of the deadliest fights of the war in Afghanistan. The talk came on the heels of the announcement that Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha, present at the post during the time of the attack, would receive the Medal of Honor for his leadership during the attack.
The ambush happened at Outpost Keating in the pre-dawn hours. 400 Taliban members had the high ground on 53 American soldiers. Romesha continued to fight throughout the battle with shrapnel in his hip, arm, and neck.
Tapper was in the hospital with his newborn son when he first heard of the attack.
“There was something about the moment when I was holding my son and I learned about the sons that had been taken that day,” he said, “I wanted to know who these men were and what that day was like.”
As Tapper began to investigate, he said he felt his questions were not being answered. Finally, he got through to the mom of a solider, and then to the commanding officer. The more he learned the more he felt the need to write about this story.
He felt a large part of his mission was to bring attention to the war. He says that not enough attention is paid to the war or soldiers, and especially not to the successful missions of the war.
Tapper said, “By coming to understand these people I came to understand the war in Afghanistan much better. My hope is others will read the book and understand it too.”
He also said that he wanted to bring an emotional element to the war.
“There’s a public health crisis in this country,”
Tapper said, “We haven’t done enough to let soldiers know there’s support and it’s okay to seek support.”
In the book, Tapper focuses a lot of his attention on the personal aspect of the attack, instead of the tactical or political aspects. He said he wanted to incorporate the families of the soldiers into the piece, and show their emotions throughout the ordeal at Outpost Keating as well.
Tapper believes the media’s lack of coverage of emotional stories about the war is to blame for the disconnection of the general populous of the country.
“We in the media are part of the disconnect between the public has with the war,” said Tapper.
Part of the disconnect is also by choice of the people, said Tapper. He claimed that people do not buy magazines with war photos on the cover or read stories about the events happening overseas.
Tapper hopes to help fix this problem with his new CNN show Headline.
He said, “The goal of the show is to offer each section of news and air the headline of each section.”
Tapper said he hopes to feature one war story per week, and make it a regular feature on the show.
The show, Headline, is set to air Monday through Friday at 4:00 P.M. on CNN.