AirCanuck said:
I missed it - worth watching or no?
I'd say yes... worth watching. Although it has a negative perspective of the NATO/Canadian mission, it does show some interesting aspects of life in Afghanistan. Some of the other stuff we don't commonly see here in Canada. For that, it's worth taking a look.
It does seem a little bleak in its outlook on everything, and it always seems to point to the "when will the foreigners leave?" question, but it has some good videography and some interesting views of life outside of the standard Afghanistan most people think of... for example; Kabul University (and Kabul itself); a polar opposite from the "wild wild west" of Kandahar province. Really interesting to see the difference between the dusty mud huts, pot and poppy fields, and third world/dark ages conditions in Kandahar compared to the relatively modern, and more "western"/conventional city look to Kabul.
At first view; this documentary seemed like the standard CBC take on the mission, with all the normal "we're not going to win" rhetoric and the "leave Afghanistan" comments, but when you weed all that out, it does have some interesting information... you just have to "read between the lines"... SOP for CBC docs.
One thing that really bothered the hell out of me, and it's not just the CBC, but everyones view of "the war". When people say; "do you think
we're going to win", or "
We're not going to win this one" or any other comment like that.
This isn't a conventional war. It's not really Us vs Them, like wars past. This is a war on ideas for the sake of political. moral and religious liberty and the inalienable human right to freedom of choice and freedom from oppression... we're not fighting the Taliban, we're holding them back so that the population can sort out their own identity and decide what works best for their country, by choice, with out the fear of radical Islamic dictatorship and oppression being rammed down their throat.
So, who will win in the end? Not Canada. Or the US... Or even NATO. We're all going to end up losing lives and money... No, no. The winner of this war will inevitably be the people of Afghanistan. When they can stand on their own, politically, economically and militarily, then we will have completed our mission, but they will have "won the war". They will reap the benefit, they will gain the most.
So when CBC states; "we're not going to win this one"... well... thank you captain obvious... it appears you have either missed the point or have misunderstood the mission. How can NATO or its backing countries claim 'victory' unless we're taking over the place... A: we can't, 'cause it's not our victory... it's theirs... But thanks for dumbing down the situation to the lowest common denominator.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Worth watching, but watch with an open mind and take it all with a grain of salt. There's a lot more information out there that the CBC is missing, or has cut due to sensationalism, liberalism and the lack of time.