Customer Reviews

Rethink Afghanistan

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Until I watched this DVD, I have had no interest in that God-forsaken country called Afghanistan. History has shown that no mighty empire has conquered that barren and arid land, is America going to be any different? We've been so brainwashed by the mainstream media that often, people can't distinguish what is going on in there except some hazy mass media soundbite of "fighting terrorists".

In this DVD, you will be able to ponder over:

- A bigger picture of the historical, cultural and ethinc history and makeup of

Afghanistan. Distinguishing things is a start to understanding reality.

- The difference between the Taliban and Al Qaeda. They are NOT the same.

- Video footage of the country on the ground in hard reality.

- The burdensome cost of the war to the American taxpayer: US$30 billion a year.

- Geopolitics.

- Interviews with the locals, professionals from a variety of fields, including

former CIA agents.

- Washington policy makers are not living to every day reality in the battlefield.

- Sad reality on the ground: THOUSANDS of INNOCENT civilian deaths!

Look at the faces of the featured old lady and the kid who died by the time this

DVD was released! What did they DO to YOU and America to deserve hunger,

starvation, bombing and death?! When was the last time YOU went without water,

clothes and food?

- The Taliban pays $8 a day to a citizen to fight the invading "foreign troops",

where is the reality of rebuilding citizen lives through American developmental

aid?

- WHY are American taxpayers' money going into the hands of greedy corporations

"contractors" and building nice, secure houses with swimming pools for American

mercenaries, private contractors and the corrupt elite? Isn't that money supposed

to give decent housing to internally displaced refugees?

- War victims are left to rot and die while American taxpayers money are used to

shore up corruption, greed and growing oppression! No wonder these "foreign

troops" are not seen as "liberators" but rightfully called oppressors!

- Missing aid money: where have all the MISSING billions of dollars gone to?

- The ugly face of American corporate and elite GREED and their lust for power!

- Reconstruction projects? One good way for American contractors to CHEAT innocent civilians and STEAL money!

You government and State Department folks reading this review!

When are you EVER going to realize that throwing BILLIONS of dollars to other governments and their corrupt state agencies ISN'T going to help the ordinary masses the least bit?! This is the same problem you face in Asia, Africa, Latin America, etc.! The citizens who NEED these aid money isn't getting a DIME or a penny!

The world now knows that the corrupt elite will only support the corrupt elite,

never mind what country they come from - they're all the same!

More than 8 segments await you in this DVD, including special features with:

- Commentary

- Spanish language options

- Debates

- Interviews with former CIA agents

This is a good start for the general public.

Educate yourself today and learn to distinguish mainstream propaganda from the reality everyone else on the ground is experiencing.

Kudos to the director, Robert Greenwald!

You've done a good service to the rest of the world with this educational DVD!

Recommended reading:

Profit Over People: Neoliberalism & Global Order

This film was worht watching and gives a human face to the dilemna in Afghanistan. I have passed it along to friends who also were impressed.

If you don't know anything about Afghanistan's history, culture, or people... Or that there's a war going on. This documentary might help you out, I've done enough reading about the history and culture of Afghanistan to find this docu. very dry and boring. Just my 2 cents.

I encourage everyone to skip or supplement the standard movie night, watch this film and for God sake if it inspires a desire for change -- actually do something, pay it forward and share this movie with friends and family no matter what their current stance on the war. It's just over an hour long it's very easy for anyone even with modern entertainment ADD to digest. We need to further educate and inspire a change in public opinion, it's the only thing that will ever end this war. The Vietnam war was ended only because the people stood up and pressured their politicians.

The only negative reviewer so far, classifies this film's approach as defeatist, yet just like the Vietnam war, this war is will never, ever, ever be "won". The premise of this film is to not to give in to defeat but to look at the facts, examine the history, consider the future implications and creatively and logically "rethink" our approach. It breaks it down like this: Chapter 1: The Troops, Chapter 2: Pakistan, Chapter 3: Cost of War, Chapter 4: Women of Afghanistan, Chapter 6: Civilian Casualties, Chapter 7: Security, Chapter 8: Rethink Afghanistan.

We need to establish a stable Afghanistan and Pakistan with less poverty and desperation. It ends with a focus on methods for giving the Afghan people new hope, new jobs, education, and new direction. But even if you put all of that aside and consider this war from a purely selfish perspective -- we still need to rethink our approach for our own future security. As it documents, there are more combatants and "terrorists" today and the entire region is destabilized because of our actions and occupation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are digging a hole in quicksand. This movie is factual and features military leaders and opinions from both sides of the aisle. It repeatedly mentions Obama and puts a lot of the blame on his policies, barely mentions Bush. Support our troops and get them out of this debacle. The only Con I can give this movie is that it needs to be updated with discussion of the "Arab Spring" that is now taking hold and proves how the people will rise up and clean their own house if we would only stop meddling and setting them back further.

This is a heart rending account of what is happening the Afghanistan with opinions from experts in the field. View it and then write your congressperson.

This film conveys a wholly pessimistic view of the Afghan war. The consistent one sided biased opinion is "give up, the US can't win." From the makers of Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers, Outfoxed, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price; this installment is just another exercise in self-loathing defeatism. Where the majority of films about Iraq and Afghanistan offer a straight forward analysis, this one overtly pushes an agenda as evident by the aforementioned titles. I would seriously question Director Robert Greenwalds motivation behind this documentary. In the guise of criticism of the United States the film offers no solution, no alternative and doesn't acknowledge what happens to the people of Afghanistan if we we're to suddenly cease operations there. I am confused by the directors "to hell with them" attitude when there are several examples of how the money would be better spent on welfare programs in the US. In my opinion time would be better spent watching the documentry Restrepo.

This should be shown to every single American. It's nearly impossible to watch this and argue for this war. What are we fighting for? What are we winning? NOTHING.