Wednesday 8 June 2011

Our War - BBC3

Ambushed - First part of a documentary series to mark ten years of the war in Afganistan. Shot by the soldiers themselves on helmet cameras and personal video cameras and interspersed with personal testimony it showed war in the raw, from the adrenilised high of soldiers in contact with the enemy to the low of one of their number being hit and having to cope with his subsequent death. The anguish of his parents was also shown. The excitment felt by the soldiers at a (revenge) killing of a Taliban combatant was squemish to liberal instincts; however there was at least a perspective on the situation by those involved, one of whom stated that in Afganistan he could see progress being made & life returning to village's under their control as opposed to Iraq where he said it felt like 'we were the problem'.

There will, of course, eventually have to be a political solution because, as the British & Soviets have found in the past, Afganistan is tough place to go with its montainous terrain and therefore an unwinnable war. As a great man once sang, 'War, war is stupid and people are stupid'. Highly recommended.

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