In association with somber observances marking 9/11's seventh anniversary, news reports in The Associated Press and Reuters indicate that the U.S. military concedes it's not winning the fight against an increasingly deadly insurgency in Afghanistan.
The Associated Press tallies U.S. military casualties as higher in 2008 than they have been in previous years, and we've still got three more months to go until we reach a new body count in 2009.
Both new agencies' reports quote Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as saying, "I'm not convinced we are winning it in Afghanistan. I am convinced we can," a statement that Reuters charaterizes as "a sober assessment nearly seven years since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban after the September 11, 2001, attacks."
What does that mean? And how much do you know about Afghanistan--the land and its people?
Seven years into the American occupation of Afghanistan, there's remarkably little news coverage about the country and/or the war. If you want to know more about this deadly situation and to understand what the fighting is about, you should see Shadow of Afghanistan, a film that Oscar nominated documentarians Suzanne Bauman and Jim Burroughs worked on Shadow of Afghanistan for 20 years before premiering it at Tribeca Film Festival in 2006. The film mixes original footage shot by Burroughs during repeated visits to Afghanistan until just before the film's premiere, exclusive footage shot by slain filmmaker Lee Shapiro and archival news footage dating back to Eisenhower's visit to Afghanistan in 1959. Within the film's sweeping socio-political context, the story of the Lee Shapiro's assassination and his crew's efforts to find his remains is an stirring reminder of the pain and chaos wrought by war.
Shadow of Afghanistan is currently available on DVD editions designated for home viewing or institutional use.
Comments
This is an amazing film! It really gives you a feeling for what has happened there in the past—which explains a lot about what is happening there now. And there is a feeling of hope about the invincibility of the spirit of the Afghan people which is really inspiring.
Thanks for your comment. I completely agree. This is a film that can make a difference. It’s important for more people to see it–which will probably require something like a grass roots movement to increase awareness about the film. Tell everyone about it!