$(document).ready( function () { talk_rendercallback({"enabled":"0","islive":"0","eid":5527,"total":"348","discussion":[{"nm":"Michelle","rs":"0","ms":"The new front in Afghanistan seems like a final resort. Majority of Americans feel that troops should come home. Why impose more harm on the thousands of families for a war that we are not guaranteed to win? We must look at history. No one from Napoleon to the Romans has ever been able to seize or control Afghanistan and Pakistan, the land makes it impossible. By creating relationships with the people is only a minor step in this huge battlefield. The people are scared, why risk their lives for a country that is totally opposite from their own. They are a common people, how can the U.S troops expect them to be able to aid them in ways that they themselves cannot accomplish. The idea of demolishing corruption and terrorism seems too much of an obstacle for the U.S to take on. U.S money given to Pakistan is only being used to ensure that corruption is continuing as financial aid is being given to the Taliban from Pakistan. How can one fight corruption when they are feeding it to the source. Cooperation is the only element that Afghanistan, Pakistan and the U.S need to form. Without this there will be no success. Truthfully this is a waste of time. There needs to be a dramatic change in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and I do not believe that the people or the government is ready to give up their ways of corruption. It has been a cushion for them for too long, and the shadowy protection of the Taliban gives them hope. As long as the people are scared and troops are not sent, I’m afraid America will lose this war. This new front is a blind front. ","pt":"Oct 26, 2009 18:31"},{"nm":"ahmad","rs":"0","ms":"&quot;May God deliver us from the venom of the cobra, the teeth of tiger, and the vengeance of Afghans&quot;","pt":"Oct 26, 2009 12:47"},{"nm":"Pfc V","rs":"0","ms":"I will be in-country &quot;kicking down doors&quot; soon, as they say. Yes, we DO need more troops, but anyone who watched the video should see how the gov\'t corruption undermines ISAF efforts. I hope those who are simply bitter about Obama winning presidency can put that aside for a second and realize that irrational and unguided application of military force doesn\'t help us win. Although, if we had as many troops on the ground in Afghanistan as we did in Iraq, perhaps it would be a simple matter of allocation. I have yet to see someone who is demanding an immediate increase in troops have any clue what specific purpose they would serve. I\'m hoping this administration can grasp the cultural tides that compose this region and do this RIGHT. Not quick. There is no quick win, but I put my life on the line for my fellow man, whether my family at home or down-range, or to attempt to help those abroad have a better quality of life. I believe in what I do, so please support your troops with common sense, rather than radical action. We can\'t change the fact that the majority of this country probably supported war at one point or another, and hopefully this will teach you that impulse is better left in front of a cash register. But since we are in the middle east, let\'s do the job right, fight smarter rather than feather-puff, and have some good will towards humanity in general. They may not be our neighbors but they deserve a decent life as much the rest of you who sit here and type do. Once we get them steered in that direction, we can realize and resolve our goals for security at home.\n\nNo soldier should have signed up if they were unwilling to give their life. Let us pray that the politicians think of us when they make decisions. Regardless of prayer, people will die. Evidence is more reliable than dogma, so lets separate the two before the things you despise point in the mirror right back at you.\n\nHeidi Martin... I understand (and am grateful for) your pride and support in the someone serving, but please respect operational security a bit more. That was quite detailed for a public forum.","pt":"Oct 26, 2009 05:43"},{"nm":"BigSal","rs":"0","ms":"Gentlemen, Having been over there 7 months and now recovering in Germany from my third IED blast, I am committed to winning this war more than ever. Where do terrorists get their funding from? From the drug trade, heroine, opium is Afghanistans staple that is why we need to win this war. We need to stop another 9/11 from happening on our soil. If I wasn\'t taken out of action I would be back there gladly doing my part to get rid of the drug trade and the Taliban. Many of you don\'t support this war, fine, support &quot;US&quot; the Marines on the ground. We are there now, so give us what we need to finish what we started. We are deep in Helmand and winning the hearts and minds there. I don\'t care that you call it &quot;obama\'s&quot; war, this is &quot;our&quot; war now, the American peoples war. Give us more troops so we can all come home after the job is done. Thank you everybody for supporting us. \nWounded Warrior.","pt":"Oct 26, 2009 05:37"},{"nm":"Domenic","rs":"0","ms":"Prior to watching this segment I had very little knowledge about what it is actually occuring Afghanistan. I had perceived it to be a war in which the United States was winning handily, and within the year, most US troops would be returning home. However it is apparent through these videos that this is a war the US will be fighting in for at least the next 5-10 years, if not longer. Unlike others, I do not believe that this war is a lost cause due to the fact that soldiers are in Afghanistan everyday trying to prevent counter-insurgency, and we should be grateful for the fact that they give their lives to prevent the possibility of terrorists attacks occuring around the world. I believe that this is a war that the United States will win, but not under current conditions: there must be more troops sent in or Pakistan must step up and disallow for the breeding of the Taliban in some of their regions. I fear that if nothing is done to stop these terrorists from continuing their plans and attacks, it will cause a Third World War and there is no doubt in my mind that it will be nuclear. Therefore in essence, much of Western civilization is depending on the success of the troops in Afghanistan, and hopefully all countries involved in preventing such acts of terror will lose as little countrymen as possible because they are fighting for our liberty, safety and lives and without them our basic fundamental rights and freedoms would not be obtainable. In no way or form is this &quot;Obama\'s War&quot;, he unfortunately has had this huge responsibility thrust upon him, in a time of economic difficulty and uncertainty. Nevertheless, he must lead a nation that demands nothing but the best possible outcome in any situation, which is why I believe that the United States cannot afford to lose this war.","pt":"Oct 25, 2009 22:56"},{"nm":"corentin","rs":"0","ms":"Excellent. I have been attracted by the title : &quot;Obama\'s War&quot;.\nAs a french military, I went 2 times in Afghanistan. During the first period, I worked with US Infantery Division. All coalition forces make a great job on this theater.\n\nCrongatulations for this movie.","pt":"Oct 25, 2009 17:55"},{"nm":"Marc D. ","rs":"0","ms":"\tSome people believe that the war in Afghanistan is pointless and there is no hope or decent purpose to help the people in this country. They say that it is not our job to “police the world”, this is partially true but from a different perspective we are not there to interfere, but to stop the growing threat of the terrorist group of the Taliban, which is increasingly growing and becoming a major threat internationally. \n\tI think that this war is necessary because the Taliban is possibly the most dangerous clan in the entire world. Somebody needs to stop them before they completely take over the Afghan government because the results of this would be catastrophic. The NATO forces in this country are required because a major change is needed to rid the Taliban and create a stable and safe Afghanistan without corruption and danger. \n\tIn the end, the War On Terror in Afghanistan is necessary because the Taliban must be stopped.  The people of Afghanistan deserve a country were they are not constantly threatened by the Taliban. Afghanistan was once a confident and steady country and in order to restore this the terrorists of the Taliban must be defeated.\n","pt":"Oct 25, 2009 15:33"},{"nm":"Maurizio","rs":"0","ms":"Obama should not have been put into such a situation, being elected at such a time was very unfortunate. This war in Afghanistan is clearly not going so well. Anyone else remember Vietnam? Does this look familiar at all? Of course it does, the American troops did the same thing, and the only difference here is the reasoning, the weapons, and people they are fighting. It’s the same old story with a new skin on it. It’s a little depressing to see that the innocent people of Afghanistan are put into this situation entirely unwillingly and receive threats from the Taliban.  I think I understand what the Americans are trying to do, by trying to stabilize the situation there and be the metaphorical training wheels for the Afghan government, but if in the past, no one else has ever been able to enter and control Afghanistan, what makes it any different now? We can only hope for the best. ","pt":"Oct 25, 2009 13:07"},{"nm":"ben","rs":"0","ms":"It was rough watching this program however necessary. It is fascinating to see the &quot;political meandering\' from all nations involved as soldiers in combat die for an unclear goal. Be that as it may, it is consistent with the past policies of nations heck-bent on &quot;defeating-the-enemy&quot; at all costs. Unfortunately in a world where the &quot;value of life&quot; is in competition with the value of product, it seems we choose to devalue humanity by chasing product. I am sure, some years from now, as in Vietnam. We will be able to tour these same villages, cities, and battleground cemetaries of our once adversary.\nWhat is the price to be paid for this privilege.......?\nIt is extreme human suffering and sacrifice, on all sides. ","pt":"Oct 25, 2009 12:48"},{"nm":"Jo Walker","rs":"0","ms":"Men need to learn that the idea of a &quot;small war&quot; is equivalent to a woman\'s idea of being &quot;a little pregnant&quot;. Anyone remember that book &quot;The Mouse That Roared&quot;?\n\nHere is another example of reporting that lacks the courage to tell people what the difficult trade-offs are, instead of just telling people what they want to hear.","pt":"Oct 23, 2009 16:45"},{"nm":"FX Demers","rs":"0","ms":"Bush was only one man and Obama also. Why the US is in Afganistan and Iran and why it stays there is the product of many interests represented by economically powerfull individuals and firms who blindly push the events towards what they percieve to be of immediate benefit to them. Obama, as it was with Bush, is like the pilot of a raft on a river, he appears to decide where the raft lands, while it is the current of convergent interest which is the main determinant of where the thing ends up in terms of military and political actions. At best the US actions will change from misguided pre-emptive confrontations to collaboration and selective interventions only when massively detrimental economic consequences will be felt by those who form the flows of interests. The simplicity of it is sadening, the US makes wars because it can and that it is profitable to those in power. The degredation of the US economy with the associated reduction of its capacity to make war is the best hope that both wars will end and US policies would change in futur occurences. Whatever the wrapper may be, wars have always been events started by the few for profit, disregarding the death and suffering of many. Wars will diminish in numbers and consequences when their short term benefits for the economically powerfull will diminish. This can only be achieve by interlocking national economies to a point where the term national in &quot;national economy&quot; becomes meaningless. It is urgent that we task our thoughts to that goal, specially when the Bomb lurks closer and closer to the edge of unrational and/or religious minds as a viable move.  \nFX Demers\nF-X Demers Oct 22, 2009 12:32","pt":"Oct 23, 2009 12:09"},{"nm":"Qasim","rs":"0","ms":"US gov can send as many soldiers as they want to Afghanistan but they will never win the war. The reason is that Afghan people have suffered at the hands of extremist Taliban and they have also witnessed thousands of their friends and family killed by American army. They have seen their countrymen being treated worse than animals and tortured by Nato forces and the allies of American Gov. They know these soldier represented the Bush and Cheney who have committed warm crimes and now they are representing Obama who is not willing prosecute the war criminals.  \nMany pictures and proofs of american army torturing the people have surfaced so far and a lot more are still being kept secret. If American people really want to end this war they should show the fairness to the world by prosecuting the war criminals in their own country first and then people in Afghanistan would care to cooperate with you guys otherwise for Afghanis and Pakistanis, American soldiers are nothing more than the terrorists in Uniform. They hate the Taliban, and Osama bin Laden but they hate the American Gov and the army more than that.  \n","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 22:25"},{"nm":"Frank Harvey","rs":"0","ms":"I agree with &quot;Heidi Martin&quot;, my grandson is leaving with your friend\'s son he is in the same company, but 4th platoon, leaving today!!","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 17:07"},{"nm":"janani","rs":"0","ms":"the goals of this war are too ambitious for us to succeed. we\'re trying to reform their government and protect the people from insurgent attacks which we don\'t have the support to do. we can only be successful with pakistan\'s cooperation, but they continue to spend the millions we give them on things other than their counterinsurgency efforts. we\'re trying to uncorrupt their government, but we can\'t completely change how their country is run, something we should learn from our efforts in Vietnam. we\'re hurting our troops and wasting too much money so we should pull out of Afghanistan. ","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:47"},{"nm":"brandon","rs":"0","ms":"This whole war has gone on for multipale years and without prosses being made,the war could be a waste of time. It is important that proper communitation occurs when our troops are befriending the natives, to not come off as harmful to them. ","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:43"},{"nm":"Jessica","rs":"0","ms":"i think that this is a big waist of time. we arent getting anything accomplished and people are losing their lives for basically no reason. i think that we should get out of there and let everything be or let someone else deal with afghanistan. ","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:40"},{"nm":"Heidi Martin","rs":"0","ms":" I just wish this war would end. My very best friends son is leaving to day from Nc., headed for Afghanistan 2/2 Fox Co 1st plt. 3rd squad. Please keep him & all our troops safe. ","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:39"},{"nm":"Tyler W. VHS","rs":"0","ms":"Should the United States send more troops to Afghanistan? As the situation is at the moment the U.S. should not send more trops to Afghanistan. As long as the Pakistan government continues to support the Taliban rather than help the U.S. get rid of them, its pointless to send more troops. As in Vietnam the U.S. sent hundreds of thousands of troops, many of which died. After they were brought home the Vietnamese government crumbled within months and communists took over. If the U.S. sends more troops without the true support of Pakistan then they are doing no more than sending young men and women to their possible deaths.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:39"},{"nm":"Will: Delvaux\'s class","rs":"0","ms":"In response to demosthenes:\nYou obviously do not understand why we are in this war.  This war is for the effort of stopping terrorism.  We cannot just simply beef up security and keep out all terrorists, because many terrorist live in the US.  If we take away the power from this terrorist organization in afghanistan, they won\'t have the materials/supplies to complete massive amounts of attacks on multiple countries. Another thing, if we pull our troops out of the war, it won\'t stop the killings, it\'ll only stop people from dieing in Afghanistan.  If we let the taliban take over the entire region, and gain more power, they\'ll soon be powerful enough to take out entire countries.  My last point deals with your statement that the United States has &quot;wrongly attacked&quot; these countries.  Apparently you forgot about 9/11.  Or how about the hundreds of deaths due to bombings, that the taliban is responsible for in Pakistan and afghanistan.  We did not pick any fight, the fight came to us, and by simply just sitting around and not doing anything, they’ll continue to attack us, until we are gone!","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:35"},{"nm":"Young","rs":"0","ms":"i think that some people are taking this whole thing a little to far but to tell the truth they should send more people in so they could just finish this whole thing and get it done so that in the future they can prevent having to use even more men then they need at the current time. obama is a strong willed man and just needs to do what he can to end this war and prevent a war that will end the U.S.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:34"},{"nm":"Cody","rs":"0","ms":"The war in Afghanistan has been going on for too long.  We have no motive and continue to send troops there which we do not need to do.  The thought of sending even more troops would be a bad idea and we should withdraw completely.  As people have mentioned, this whole situation is similar to Vietnam, and hopefully we\'ve learned that there is no use being in Afghanistan, so we should leave instead of continue the loss of American lives.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:33"},{"nm":"Brown Bear","rs":"0","ms":"I agree with the thoughts that this war is chillingly close to Vietnam. Personally, I believe the only way to win this war is for Pakistan to get on board and for the people of Afghanistan to believe in what we\'re fighting for. It doesn\'t matter how many soldiers we send over there, if the people don\'t believe and the government doesn\'t stay uncorrupt. Pakistan is going to be our biggest inhibitor in winning this war.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:32"},{"nm":"Chase A","rs":"0","ms":"The United States progress in Afghanistan is being stalled.  General McChrystal says we need 40,000 more troops to finish the job, the chance of getting 40,000 more troops in the near future is slim to none.  The controversy in the Obama Administration probably won\'t come to an end soon enough. The people of Afghanistan are filled with fear, fear of the Taliban and what they can do.  For real progress to be achieved the United States has to work together with Afghanistan.  Instead of sending more U.S soldiers, the Afghanistan government needs to increase their military and training operations.  the 40,000 more troops should come from Afghanistan, and slowly over time the U.S can start to pull out, and the Afghanistan people can take control.  Of course the united states would help with the training of the those soldiers and provide supplies.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:31"},{"nm":"Eric Thunder","rs":"0","ms":"Of course what we are doing is right, we are fighting for our country\'s right, we are fighting for a cause.      Should we pull out of afghanistan? It sounds pretty tempting. i mean this situation seems a whole lot like our whole viatnam war. We had hundreds of thousands of soldiers stationed over there and as soon as we left, they fell apart anyway. we should not waste our time. all we need to do is ensure that all the terrorism and corruption is done. If we keep pouring money and blood into afghanistan, then America, in turn, will end up in a worse off place than we were in in the first place. We need to clean up and get home. that is, of course, if pakistan keeps being beligerent and ornery. They need to get it in their head that without their cooperation, along with everyone else in this cause, we will not succeed. There is no question of is this war winable, cause it isn\'t. The best we can do now is leave enough men and women to hold down the fort and use the rest of our resources to persuade, or convince pakistan into cooperating. after that, lets get thehell out of there. It\'s not a lost cause, just an unwinnable one.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:30"},{"nm":"Ash","rs":"0","ms":"in response to eric haynes:\ni believe that the troops in Afgan have America\'s 100% support. but do we really give them all the support and resources that they need? even if you don\'t agree with the war, or if you do, we need to make sure that our troops know we are still praying for them and thinking about them. those troops are our fathers, mothers, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparetns, etc. we want them to come home safe. but while they are not able to at the moment we should continue to send care packages or letters. even the smallest things can make a huge difference. wouldn\'t you like to know that you were able to put a smile on someones face? give them an extra ounce of faith. please show our troops that you care! God bless america.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:26"},{"nm":"Chris","rs":"0","ms":"I think that the war is not a complete waste of time. I dont think we should keep sending more and more people in but, we have to win this war. It is killing all of people and they are thinking about sending forty thousand people in witch is not good it is just taking lives away from family\'s. It is getting old they need to pull them out sometime.  Obama is sending a buntch of people in witch is not good.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:25"},{"nm":"Molly","rs":"0","ms":"Honestly i believe that the war in Aghanistan is both a waste of time and necessary. We are fighting a different Country\'s war! Yes, at one point we needed to be over there because they hurt our Country but now we continue to send more and more troops that are not needed. And it is pretty obvious that we are not going to win the War so why do we keep fighting?","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:24"},{"nm":"The Man Who Sits Next to the One Who Calls Himself Brown Bear","rs":"0","ms":"In response to Demosthenes\' comment, I believe that the soldiers in the middle east have made all the difference. The last attack on American soil was September 11, 2001.  We have went 9+ years without an attack because the terrorist\'s are fighting on their own soil! In your mouth son! And words for your ear holes.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:23"},{"nm":"Ash","rs":"0","ms":"In response to DP:\nI totally agree with you. what the hell is Omaba thinking? if he had such a strong opinion during the presidential campaign then why hasn\'t he made a decision about Afgan yet? this cannot wait! we need to make a move now... are we going to stay in the war or aren\'t we? he\'s been taking his sweet time to &quot;make a careful choice&quot; or is he just stalling because now he doesn\'t know what he wants to do? our troops are in a war right now and so many are dieing. this is BS. Make up your mind already Obama! either get our service men and women out of there or go in with full force.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 14:19"},{"nm":"DP","rs":"0","ms":"Obama used Afghanistan as a campaign tool.  By portraying Iraq as a really bad idea by Bush, he could propose a better idea: Afghanistan.  Obama needed Afghanistan to win many Republican and conservative voters and ultimately the election.  With the election won, Obama now has the dilemma of having to follow through with his Afghanistan promises.  But, I\'ll bet it\'s the last thing he really wants to do.  He\'d walk away from this mess as soon as possible if it were politically feasible....but it ain\'t.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 02:51"},{"nm":"James","rs":"0","ms":"There are two mind sets in the world right now: 1. We can fix Afghanistan. Trust in our government; they care sincerely about the safety of us and our world neighbors, not about money, nor strategic investments. Never question why we are there, rather support our troops unwaveringly. Continue to monitor the situation from trusted news sources like msnbc, fox, cbs, abc, cnn, and when the time comes to make a decision, pray to Jesus that he may enlighten our brave politicians. \n2. 9/11 was an inside job. &quot;Special Interests&quot; groups (corporatacracy) have a choke hold on influencing our legislation and legislators. Religion, (christianity, judaism, islam) has been brainwashing people for centuries, keeping it\'s fervent followers in line because they never examine the core of their belief systems. www.metahistory.org   the truth shall set us free","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 00:35"},{"nm":"charlie","rs":"0","ms":"I found it interesting the troops in the region have very little training to deal with the cultural differences that exist between our countries. In the scene where one of the Marines was asking a group of farmers why they were not being helpful, it seemed like his reaction to their response was very hostile. How can we expect a foreign country to emnbrace our values and help our soldiers when we are coming off as violent and hostile. Our troops need cultural liasons present to help translate and communicate more effectively if we expect to succeed in any form or fashion.","pt":"Oct 21, 2009 16:38"},{"nm":"Melissa","rs":"0","ms":"I believe that this war that is occurring is not a complete waste of time.  Let’s be honest, no matter what anyone has said about George Bush, he still had the ability to put fear in the eyes of May terrorist.  What the United States Government is trying to do is ensure that terrorist’s attacks do not happen again.  Let’s face it; the United States will not win this war.  Ever heard of history repeats itself? So basically all they are doing is temporally ensuring that terrorist’s actions do not occur, and proving that American is still strong.  The United States Government is not wasting there time.  They are in essence creating time.  They are waiting for that brilliant solution that will help them solve the problem to terrorism and make American a safer place. (Of course being allies with Afghanistan does not protect them from Korea).   So, people may say that the war is a useless effort but really is it?  Is sending money into a country to make it more stable a waste of time?  Is showing that a country can still defend its self a waste of time?  Say what you want but really I do not think so. \n","pt":"Oct 21, 2009 15:24"},{"nm":"Andy","rs":"0","ms":"I am Vietnam Vet having served with Inshore Undersea Warfare Group in the late 60\'s. I also lived & worked in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia in the late 70\'s when the Shah was overthrown & Khomeini returned from France.\n\nThere is an amorphous nature to Al-Qaeda. They operate in many countries so even success in eliminating them in Afghanistan & Pakistan would not resolve the underlying threat.  The Taliban on the other hand is a regional phenomenon a threat to U.S. strategic interests only should they continue gaining power in Pakistan and ultimately access to its nuclear capabilities.\n\nWe are not effectively dealing with the underlying support for radical Islam that has allowed both Al-Qaeda & the Taliban to flourish. In the 70\'s I was able to observe firsthand how the Saudi royal family relied on the radical Wahabi sect\'s repressive religious leaders to maintain control of their population. Since then the Wahabi\'s have become even more repressive and the Royals even more dependent on them. The exportation of the Wahabi\'s radical  Islamic philosophy supported by both massive funding and jihadists from Saudi Arabia has enabled both Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. It was Saudi citizens who made up most of the terrorists flying the planes on 9/11. Yet we continue to beat around the bush in places like Afghanistan while not attacking the root of the problem through eliminating funding & support pouring out of Saudi Arabia. Without this Saudi funding &support both both Al-Qaeda and the Taliban\'s ability to wage &quot;jihad&quot; would be severely crippled. Are we so dependent upon Saudi oil that we are willing to continue sacrificing our young warrior’s lives while putting our Nation at risk?","pt":"Oct 21, 2009 14:13"},{"nm":"Eric Haynes","rs":"0","ms":"In my view, the only difference between this war in Afghanistan and the Vietnam war is that this time the troops are given 100% support by the American public. Unfortunately, these same troops are the ultimate victims - caught in the middle of a war we cannot win. ","pt":"Oct 21, 2009 14:07"},{"nm":"DOROTHY HEALY","rs":"0","ms":"The Taliban is the army of Al Qaeda, The goal of Al Qaeda is to overpower Pakistan\'s military and seize nuclear weapons. Why? because they hate us and want to kill us all. Why? because we are not Moslims. that\'s all.The rest is blather.","pt":"Oct 21, 2009 11:25"},{"nm":"joe olson","rs":"0","ms":"One definition o a delusional stupid moron is a person that firmly believes he can climb up an unattached rope...and then tries it.","pt":"Oct 21, 2009 00:06"},{"nm":"Dan","rs":"0","ms":"I want to know why Obama is escalating this war.  I agree with the people who say leave afghanistan and focus on infrastructure.  You count your costs before going to war or escalating war.  I bought &quot;focus on afghanistan&quot; during the election, but now I want to know why we are there.  Like the gentleman said afghanistan looks like a country of old men.  Where are the men of fighting age?  It looks like men of fighting age are part of the taliban.  If that is the case, how can we expect those old men to turn on their sons?  If the afghanistan men are part of the taliban, then they must be accepting of the taliban.  If the afghanistan people are part of the taliban then who are we trying to save them from?  What are we trying to do there?  I am trying to do some research on the web.  Is it the oil pipeline mentioned earlier?  According to worldpress.org.  two oil companies (one US)were fighting over the rights to construct the pipeline during the late 90s until tribal wars broke out.  One company said it would only build if it was a safe situation for his company.  Why are we putting U.S. forces in harms way in afghanistan?  What do we hope to accomplish?  How much will it cost?  Does a US oil company still have an interest in that pipeline?  Why are US presidents so kissy kissy and bowing (I hear) to the Saudis, when they might not have as much oil as they want people to think?  What is going on?  We should support our troops no matter why we are there, that is given.  Why is Obama escalating the war?  We should bring our US forces home from afghanistan. ","pt":"Oct 20, 2009 13:33"},{"nm":"Brielle","rs":"0","ms":"I read a thank you note to Soldiers Angels tonight.  The person who visited said the unit in Afghanistan did not have running water, rarely had vegtables, and his friend had not showered in 2.5 months.  AMERICA\'S LEADERS, PLEASE DO RIGHT BY OUR TROOPS IN THE NAME OF LORD JESUS CHRIST.","pt":"Oct 19, 2009 22:51"},{"nm":"SS Sgt. E.D. Sim USMC","rs":"0","ms":"   God bless all the men and women over there, especially our infantry. God bless our snipers. I don\'t know about you all, but I still remember 9/11. I may not understand all of the politics behind this war, but I sure as all support our troops, and not just with a yellow ribbon on my car. When is the last time YOU sent a care package with socks and other simple things our COUNTRYMEN and WOMEN need? You may not agree, but our brothers blood is being shed over there, send some love!","pt":"Oct 19, 2009 22:01"},{"nm":"Demosthenes","rs":"0","ms":"American troops in Afghanistan have not helped anyone. There are still Taliban members roaming the lands, and soldiers are still getting destroyed by IED\'s. The only solution to stop the killing is to pull all troops out of Afghanistan, and focus more on keeping terrorists out of the United States. This means airport and border security. If we keep the terrorists outside of the border, is there any need to hunt them down in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Kuwait, or any other country the United States has wrongly attacked?","pt":"Oct 19, 2009 17:34"},{"nm":"heather ","rs":"0","ms":"Not only am I a daughter of a marine, I am a sister, also a girlfriend of a marine. Not one day passes by that I\'m not thinking about our troops overseas. Also how I can\'t wait until they are all home. As an interpreter it\'s hard because more then 90% of the afghani villagers aren\'t very good at communication skills. That\'s just one marine who most likely has been dealing with that same group not communicating with him so he can help protect them, which I understand how they would be scared because they don\'t want to be killed. So don\'t ever put down any of our military men and women, they are clearly doing more then you. For those who aren\'t blessed with dealing with deployments, they are heart wrenching. I\'ve had both my father and my brother deployed to Iraq more then once, my mother who was in the navy for 26 years has deployed too many times to even count. But nothing was harder then letting My marine go so he can get his deployment done, of all the deployments and the see you when you get home and be safes, it killed me knowing that the kiss we had before he got on the bus could have been our last. I\'m extremely thankful for everything our Military does for us. At times I\'ll send out some random boxes to guys  overseas that work with the marines I knew because half of the time the young men don\'t have supportive families or they just don\'t know what to really send overseas. I have had so many marines come home and just thanking me for supporting them because it\'s the assholes over here who talk crap about how they should have gone to school or just simply picked another job. Just please when ever you see anyone in the military shake their hand and say thank you. Even if they\'re retired from World War 2!","pt":"Oct 19, 2009 13:58"},{"nm":"Adam","rs":"0","ms":"We should stop our overseas adventures or at least minimize our presence there.  It just seems like a bunch of American soldiers are way out of their element in Afghanistan and the people there probably feel pretty certain we are just passing through and there is no way we will stay.  The taliban and other Afghanis are who they will have to deal with in the longer term.  They must look at us and just think &quot;those Americans...&quot;    the other reason we should not be there in large numbers is that we can\'t afford it.  With our economy the way it is, why should America have to take on all of the global peacekeeping responsibilities?  ","pt":"Oct 19, 2009 02:22"},{"nm":"Lou","rs":"0","ms":"This video was an excellent portrayal of a difficult situation for our nation as well as the nation of Afghanistan. My view is let the experts who understand the situation control the situation. I have enough faith in the military of The United States of America to have enough information and understanding of this war to be able to fight it to win it. The ramiifications of a loss are unacceptable. There is no comparison of our involvement in the war on terror to the war in Vietnam. The outcome of this war on terror is one that will determine the lifestyle of future generations of Americans. If General McCrystal and his advisors feel that this war is winnable with an increase in troops then we as a nation should stand behind him and support him. Our political leaders are so busy trying to outdo one another, they are losing the correct perspective. We need to unite as a nation, support our troops by providing them what they need in equipment and manpower, and defeat terrorism at its origin. God Bless America.  ","pt":"Oct 18, 2009 22:12"},{"nm":"shayna","rs":"0","ms":"I am not here to debate the show with anybody.  I am here commenting in hopes of helping somebody.  I poured out my heart in letter after reading an Echo mom, Jill\'s, comments.  My heart goes out to her.  So much of this country\'s burden has been laid on the backs of our military families.  They are glad to serve.  I want to help them.  I have a dad who has served in the military, several cousins who have served, and a man who I love who serves our country in the military.  My point is, divine protection, our troops can have divine protection and serve and come home safe.  I am tired of hearing of casualities and wounded.  It just seems like we got to do better for our troops.  We can help them fight their battle, in prayer, faithfilled prayer.  There are people called to pray for our troops.  What if in addition, families of troops are also armed with know how to pray powerful prayers of divine protection.  It beats fearing.  &quot;Fear Not!&quot;  A good start is a book you can get at kcm.org.  &quot;Protecting Your family in Dangerous Times&quot;.  Pray Psalm 91 daily over your loved ones.  Take King David\'s prayers of protection in Psalm and pray them over your loved ones.  Most battles are spiritual battles first.  We can fight the spiritual battles for our loved ones overseas.  Praise stills the enemy.  Here is a Psalm in song.  &quot;For thou O\'Lord are a shield for me, You bestow glory on me and lift up my head&quot;.  ","pt":"Oct 18, 2009 20:42"},{"nm":"Jalaledin Ebrahim","rs":"0","ms":"After watching &quot;Obama\'s War&quot; I think that the US has to let the Taliban become Pakistan\'s problem. Until the Pakistanis realize that fighting the Taliban is in their own interests and until we have transparency in Afghan governance, this war could be a waste of US blood and treasure.","pt":"Oct 18, 2009 13:03"},{"nm":"Dovidw","rs":"0","ms":"A few observations on the documentary. Personally I would want to distance myself as far as possible from a society that produced a soldier who declares &quot;We\'re experts in the application of violence!&quot; Also the Obama sequence &quot;Most people in the US have a simple question....They deserve a straightforward answer.&quot; Anybody know what that &quot;straightforward answer&quot; was? The encounter between the interrogator and the villagers was SO apalling, I\'m surprised the censors allowed it through! The approach of the US soldiers is so unbelievable gauche insofaras one is lead to believe that all they  have to do to win hearts and minds is take off their goggles and say &quot;hello&quot;  And no competent interpreter!! Does anybody out there believe this insanity? This exchange between sophisticated, educated, wordly US Interrogator and simple Afghan peasant, &quot;....US Int: &quot;You need to know that we are here to kick the Taliban out!&quot; Afghan peasants: &quot;As you know we are here to kick the Taliban out. Why are you not helpling us? What can we do? What can we provide for you? You have planes, tanks and guns; we are simple people with nothing. We don\'t even have a sword. If YOU can\'t win, how can we?&quot; What a beautiful answer!! As for the graffiti  &quot;Our Jihad is for Allah&quot;  isn\'t this surely the &quot;writing on the wall&quot; for the Americans?","pt":"Oct 18, 2009 10:22"},{"nm":"J.V.Hodgson","rs":"0","ms":"The program good and informative I have a problem with &quot;Obama\'s war&quot; title because it is not. He might be re-thinking strategy but this war was declared by then President Bush. Deciding to contiue it with a different strategy does not make it Obama\'s war.\nMy conclusion is simple overall and is after also having read McChrystals 66 page leaked report.\n1) Coin and Couunter terrorism must continue for at least the next 18-24 months.\n2) A huge effort is required by all ISAF nations to train Afghani\'s as Interpreters and Afghan police and Army not only in Afghanistan, but also back in each ISAF country that speeds up the numbers trained, avoids corruption and can ensure recruits are from tribal areas to which they return\n3) Education and Infrastructure needs Management level NGO and civilians in large numbers but employing as many locals on Road building Crop development and water management again taking very careful note of the tribal rule and ethnicity, but paying workers directly not via tribal leaders\n4) Key to longer term success is a weak central government and regional tribal governance and fixing the legal infrastructure under sharia law, in this area the UN has to help and provide the resource, and face the fact that the law will vary to some degree in each tribal area. We may think thats wierd but if you do not do so the Pashtun\'s (Taliban) will continue the jihad.\nI think Obama and his team are giving all this very careful thought, but in the end troop numbers, locations Military strategy should not be in the media. WWII careless words cost lives!!\nRegards,\nHodgson. ","pt":"Oct 18, 2009 04:12"},{"nm":"nick yan","rs":"0","ms":"we are fighting a war that we can not distinguish between the good and the bad. In addition, we can can fight two wars in the same country. We are fighting the corruptions within the government in Afghanistan and the Talibans not to mention its allies. \nI believe, it it doesn\'t matter how intelligent we are; we need to find a solution that will win the afghnistani heart and soul to win the war.\n\n ","pt":"Oct 18, 2009 02:51"},{"nm":"Carolyn","rs":"0","ms":"This message is for Shane, the Proud Uncle of LCPD Charles Seth Sharp USMC.  Please know that we share your grief, that your nephew is honored and that his death is mourned.  No matter the reason that we are in Afghanistan, he served our Country well and with distinction.  My heart is heavy with the young lives that we have given to this \'cause\', but please know that we appreciate your sacrifice and wish that it had not been.  I know that Jesus was waiting for him with a smile on his face and open arms to welcome him home.  He is in a better place where time does not exist and love is everywhere.  \n","pt":"Oct 18, 2009 00:25"},{"nm":"MarieA","rs":"0","ms":"Yes, face your enemy man to man in battle!  Be honorable! Great 18th century European concept there.  Geez.","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 23:09"},{"nm":"scott white","rs":"0","ms":"mr. nagl comments we fight an enemy who refuses to \'FACE US IN BATTLE\'. i never heard him mention the united states\' use of drones controlled by people in nevada. hmmmmmmmm","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 22:31"},{"nm":"Courtney    ","rs":"0","ms":"I appreciate the comment that instead of bringing your pre-existing sentiments here, share what you learned from the Frontline special that is new and eye-opening.  If I had to check a box when I stared the program, it would be: I do not support this war.  Now, I\'m wavering.  What I learned, however, is that the issue is unfathomably complex and the path forward is painfully unclear.  Bringing peace through violence is never a good strategy.  Going forward, I still believe the Administration should end our presence there because &quot;winning&quot; can never truly be achieved.  As one Marine Corps general stated, winning will not be a bright line victory, it will appear in shades of grey.  But this much is now abundantly clear:  WE MUST SUPPORT OUR TROOPS.  Whether you agree or disagree with this war, our soldiers are being asked to fight an unsavory battle with an ever-evolving objective, in the harshest of conditions, without adequate numbers or supplies, and to act as nation builders using tribal languages no one speaks.  An insurmountable task.  I wish them strength and courage.  \n  ","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 22:19"},{"nm":"domermom","rs":"0","ms":"The thing that struck me as the most sad was our government\'s absolute clulessness regarding getting decent translators to facilitate communication with the very citizens we are supposed to be helping.  The marine trying to talk to the group of Afghan men ended up sounding like a complete jerk.  He was frustrated because they couldn\'t understand ... well guess what ... you are in their country, you have no right to be upset with them.  They are doing the best they can and the US government has failed at this very basic level.  No wonder the Taliban is winning.  At the very least, they can communicate.","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 19:08"},{"nm":"Lcpl Dentz","rs":"0","ms":"I am replacing 2/8 in a bit\nand i do believe that afghanistan wants us there\nthey have said to 2/8 members i have spoken to, that they are afraid of the taliban, and that they want us there, but they can not show it.\nslowly but surely this war is comming to a brighter side of the road\nbut if you dont agree, that is fine\nsupport the troops, always, u dont have to support the war","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 19:04"},{"nm":"andrew","rs":"0","ms":"leave afghanistan now. afghans don\'t want you in their country. they never asked for help. they never attacked america in america. US is not supporting afghans its supporting the corrupt warlords from northern allience (theives of nation). by supporting the criminals th US is shooting itself in the foot. the american must know that they are contributing to the crimes committed by US troops by throwing their support. trust me these troops are commetting crimes. US is fighting the afghans not someone else.Talibans are afghans. leave afghanistan to afghans. ","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 17:53"},{"nm":"Shane","rs":"0","ms":"I am proud Frontline aired this program. I am the uncle of LCPL Charles Seth Sharp who was wounded the morning of July 2, 2009. He later succomed to his wounds while being flown on a chopper to a hospital.I can be at peace knowing he didn\'t die alone. I can have closure knowing how he died and seeing his last moments. He was twenty years old and engaged to be married when he returned from Afganistan. His fiancee Katy was his life long sweetheart from kindergarden. He was proud to serve his country but, this was his last tour. He was to enroll in college when his tour was up. \nMy family has recieved tremendous support from many citizens of this country and we are very thankful to each and everyone of them. God bless you all!\nThis message is not to delve in to the right or wrong aspect of our countries involvement in Afganistan. It is; however, to stress the tremendous sacrafices which are being made by the soldiers and their families. I ask everyone to show support to the men and women who are serving in our armed forces. Also, I ask continued support for the families which these soldiers leave behind. Remember, these soldiers are supporting our country so, support them whether you agree where or why they are fighting or not. They have no control in the choices made by our government but, they do their duty irregardless of their personal views. I am sure they pray also for the day when no more hatred exists and peace reigns in this world. When the time comes which opens the eyes and hearts of men, the truth will show we are all the same no matter what religion, race, gender, or country in which we happen to be a part. \nNo matter what the name you call the supreme being which you serve, he teaches love. Religions teach the same thing. To hate is to not know the truth. The Bible says &quot;many will be decieved&quot;. If your spiritual leader teaches hate, he knows not the teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus said &quot;how can you love me and hate your brother&quot;. He also says, &quot;the way to destroy your enemies is to make them your friends&quot;. If God can send his only son to die on the cross and not hate the persons which crusified him, then why do we hate people just for their different ideas, beliefs, or color. Instead of praying for what we want, lets try to pray Gods will is done and that God will have mercy on me the sinner. \nShane\nProud Uncle of LCPD Charles Seth Sharp USMC\nMAY HE REST IN PEACE!  ","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 16:46"},{"nm":"Max ","rs":"0","ms":"why does frontline refuse to publish comments critical of govt policy on its website?  the samne thing can just as easily be published on an uncensored website!\n\n\nThis has been submitted several times:\n\nIt’s hypocrisy for the US Elites, their puppet press, and their corrupt officials, corrupt generals, corrupt national security and secret police to be complaining about Afghan Govt. corruption.  \n\nThe Washington Regime is an organized criminal enterprise that uses its secret police to engage in abuses of power, human rights abuses against American civilians, political persecution of American citizens, and the theft of private property of American civilians by the Pentagon Gestapo and secret police.\n\n\n","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 14:52"},{"nm":"jill mattison","rs":"0","ms":"I didn\'t want to watch for several reasons, my son is in 2/8 echo and the young marine who died,is a close friend.I knew Lcpl Sharp was gone from us, but it became a reality seeing the show.I know my son is in combat and i try to avoid the news and media concerning this, but like most people who can\'t help but watch an accident happen, i watched.I am now beyond a terrified mom..these young men,whether we agree with the war or not, need our prayers, they need supplies, they need to know that we are here supporting THEM.","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 14:41"},{"nm":"Juli","rs":"0","ms":"          It is quite clear that a successful outcome in Afghanistan will be determined by Pakistan. Pakistan\'s reluctance to protect our interests should not warrant them an ally. If they continue to not fully cooperate, the war should be focused there. We know we have an ally in India.  ","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 14:22"},{"nm":"Garry Zimmerman","rs":"0","ms":"I don\'t believe in doing anything half assed. “If we are going to remove the Taliban and free the people of Afghanistan, we need to support the request of the generals in charge.” Telling them they will do the job with the men they have now, does not work. We will experience more casualties in the long run and it will appear an imposable task to the American people and as time goes by, the task will get less and less support from the American people.  ","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 10:16"},{"nm":"Jim Sauber","rs":"0","ms":"Trying to rid the world of evil and those that may do you harm is like going out to look for and kill a robber that might invade your home.  It\'s a big world and there are a lot of people out there and they don\'t have &quot;robber&quot; signs on their backs.  You could go broke and be killed doing it.  Better to secure your home and recognize that all risks can\'t be mitigated.  \n\nTime to come back home and secure it as well as possible.","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 07:51"},{"nm":"Chris","rs":"0","ms":"Great program.  Didn\'t we learn anything from Vietnam?","pt":"Oct 17, 2009 01:02"},{"nm":"Bill Rid","rs":"0","ms":"I spent three years in three tours in Vietnam as a fighter pilot.  Nothing has changed then nor will it now. What Politicians are doing now is exactly the same thing they did to our military 35-40 years ago.  Looking back the Vietnam war, it was a waste of time for those that died, a noble cause, but a waste of time given the meddling of our Politicians and final outcome.  It\'s a waste of time now.  I don\'t care about fighting for oil, we have sufficient reserves in this country.  What I am PO\'d about is these stinking politicians put our troops in harms way with their hands tied.  Don\'t tell me about the big picture-the big picture is to stop politicizing and let our troops fight to win and if we don\'t have the political will to do that, then bring them home. The Arab factions within the Middle East have been fighting for years, do you think we can fix that?  No, no way as we fixed nothing in Vietnam.  Looking back at the Vietnam war, I am disgusted with what happened and am disgusted now with the action and in-actions of our Politicians.  ","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 22:07"},{"nm":"Jack","rs":"0","ms":"If there was vote tomorrow on what to do next, I\'d vote that we: 1) leave Iraq, 2) leave Afghanistan, 3) cease funding the corrupt government of Pakistan. ","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 21:42"},{"nm":"M0M 0F A MARINE","rs":"0","ms":"As a mother of one of Brave Marines in Afghanistan, I feel that Obama is draging his feet on this war . I understand that this war was dumped in his lap , but to send only 4000 troops in to fight this war and to tie there hands while doing so is not right . With not being able to return fire on whom ever is shooting at them until they know for sure who is shooting . Farmers or not the troops should be able to defend themselfs.\nMy feelings are that Obama should either send alot more troops to get the job done and show them what the American people are made of or bring the men that are over there home and call it a loss.\nI think that we should worried about rebuilding our own country and leave everyone else to take care of themselfs. \nTo many of our sons,fathers,husbands and yes also mothers, sisters , wives and even daughters have lossed there lives .Either send them more help or send them home.","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 21:02"},{"nm":"Glynda","rs":"0","ms":"In 1990, the fight was blamed on oil.  As a new widow at that time, USA TODAY asked me, a 25 year old mom of two toddlers, if I thought the fight was about oil.  I foolishly answered back with the question; &quot;My husband died because of oil?&quot; I thought he was rendering AID to our troops and the people of Kuwait.  I was young, very uniformed and extremely naive.  USA TODAY quoted me as making the statement, as if I endorsed the opinion, &quot;My husband died because of oil...&quot;  Simply by removing a question  mark from my actual response, they made it seem as if I supported this opinion.  When in fact, after all these years I DO NOT FEEL THAT THE FIGHT IS ALL ABOUT THE OIL.  And even if it were, it\'s also about the people caught in the crossfires from all directions.  This is OUR WORLD, we need to support each other instead of destroying what the human race has accomplished to the present.  We need to move forward, make the changes everyone on this planet needs to SURVIVE.  Peace Out","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 15:55"},{"nm":"Brielle","rs":"0","ms":"I appreciate Frontline and PBS bringing us this documentary.  I appreciate all the quality programming that PBS brings us.  I have not thought about Afghanistan much till lately.  Watching the documentary and reading the comments, I have been pondering this situation America is in.  I am not convinced that we need to be in Afghanistan.  I am thinking of a SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING OUR TROOPS HOME CAMPAIGN.  ","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 14:36"},{"nm":"hannah","rs":"0","ms":"Actually Holbrooke does fly into Kabul with his cool sunlgasses on... cause he\'s famous... the job of nation building falls to the military because the other nations were trying to build just don\'t want to be built, therefore, we should leave the stubborn nations alone. But what will happen if we do leave them alone? Will there be another terrorist attack? We Americans have dug our own grave.","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 12:57"},{"nm":"Luca P.","rs":"0","ms":"Very well made video. I really liked the different perspectives that were brought up during the 55 minutes. The one part that was absolutely shocking to me was when the Marines that talked to the Afghani could not establish some sort of communication. The ideas and words weren\'t well transmitted between both sides. Communication is vital when dealing with foreign affairs. Once Americans can establish some sort of well-processed communication then that\'s when agreements are made and diplomatic affairs are clear and concise. ","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 12:56"},{"nm":"Dan","rs":"0","ms":"Is that why Obama is sending more troops to Afghanistan, an oil pipeline (as per Jeff\'s comments)?  I hope that is not the case.  ","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 12:30"},{"nm":"Stephan Van Heerden","rs":"0","ms":"Okay Response to r.kane Oct 16, 2009 09:25 Saddly there is no other way for us to win this war. We need to call in soldiers but we cant send in fresh recruits right to the front line at Outpost Sharp they need to get more experience send soldiers with 1 or more inlistments to the front lines. Like it said in the movie we need easily 40000 more soldiers, I think Obama is gunna have some hard choices in the future, he just won the nobel peace prize and now he needs to send 40000 men and women to war.\nI dont think he will just get 40000 people who want to fight, I believe in the future he will call a draft. Employ as meny as you can and send them to war. Good luck echo company and God bless","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 10:07"},{"nm":"r.kane","rs":"0","ms":"The marines are doing good work, but it\'s too much of a cat and mouse game.  As I think this program showed, you have to move in with massive force, sweep the countryside and capture the enemy as he attempts to flee.  You could do this on a country-wide scale, but that would take an enormous amount of troops and is politically unfeasible at this point.  Besides, the enemy will have figured out the strategy by then and will have dropped their guns and blended back into the population to fight another day since they know we can\'t stay there forever.  We need a strategy part stick and part carrot.  As carrot, build the country a piece at a time, starting with the cities, to strengthen trust in the government by rooting out corruption and gradually wean the countryside off the Taliban.  Part stick and part carrot, raise and train a well-paid Afghan army to slowly take over security duties as we withdraw and serve as a viable alternative to joining the Taliban or growing poppy.  All stick, leave a force in country to train the army and deal with security threats as they arise.  But unless we go all-in a totally stick strategy won\'t work and even then it might fail without enough carrots.","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 09:25"},{"nm":"Herbert Coleman","rs":"0","ms":"Interesting piece, however I do not believe it meets the standard set by other frontline editions. there are many unanswered questions. like, what is the &quot;natural&quot; (not political) relationship between the taliban and the tribesmen living in the afgan/pakistan border region? and what is the situation with al queda, visa vie troop strength, political influence, and are they still operating in either afganastan or pakistan, as a fighting force? and If they are not, why should americans care about the political dynamics of that region? Is Osama Bin Laden (not mentioned in the piece) a factor? If we left afganistan today, what would happen? and even if the taliban did come back and take over, what would stop us from using our air power, and special forces units to attack al queda.. without restriction. the answer to these and other questions are what will determine if we should stay or go. not the history of corruption and double dealing in the area. lets get our priorities straight, and get out of the nation repairing/buiding business.","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 06:35"},{"nm":"Jeff","rs":"0","ms":"I agree with others that more should have been said about the context for this war. There is an oil pipeline being constructed through Afghanistan, and there are US interests involved in this. Sudan, the Balkans and Yemen are all possible places where terrorists can train and take safe haven. Why are we not concerned about those countries? So I wonder if the US Citizens are once again being misled and given half-truths. I hope that Obama lives up to his promise and brings the change many of us so desperately want. Let\'s invest in our own people and leave the Afghanis alone. They would have a much more peaceful existence without US presence. ","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 04:22"},{"nm":"Murali","rs":"0","ms":"I regularly follow Frontline programs on War and Terrorism.  As naturalized US citizen, I fully support the troops but I think both Bush and Obama Administration are totally flawed in their approach.  The problem is Pakistan not Afghanistan.  Afghanistan is just a symptom.  The source of terrorism (Pak / Afghan) border is full of extremely rugged clans that are very proud and loyal to their benefactors.  If you have to win this war, you have to go after the civilian government in Pakistan.  You have to motivate the Pakistani government through financial leverage.  The financial support of Pakistani government has been going on since Reagan administration, and Pakistan has been playing the US all along.  In the meanwhile, the ISI has gotten powerful, corrupt and anti American.  It almost feels like, wake up you have a situation where, some one that bites the hand that feeds them and you do nothing about it.  I think the administration understands the situation but is too scared to do anything about it.  I hope things change soon for the World\'s sake.  Just my observations.","pt":"Oct 16, 2009 00:21"},{"nm":"Socialist Worker","rs":"0","ms":" We are entering an era of where world capitalism as defined by the American Empire has entered a long hot winter. The begining of a world depression not seen since the 1930\'s and the outbreak of numerous wars organized by histories most powerful military empire. Yet within the Empire exists a class that produces everything yet owns nothing, whose interests are diametricly opposed to the owners of capital - the modern working class. It will be our job to organize a revolution to replace the dictatorship of capital with the dictatorsip of the proletariat right here in these United States!! Which will open the door to building Socialism on a world scale.  ","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 23:46"},{"nm":"Danny","rs":"0","ms":"Reading the comments here I see a wide variety of people.  It\'s very interesting to see poeple say very different things after seeing the same program.  Its frustrating to debate what may be right and wrong with those who are not independatnly informed.  I challenge folks here to take info they see in others comments and look it up.  I certianly see what I can guarantee to be some &quot;conspiracy&quot; like staments, however, I cannot disregard what I have no actual info on my self.  I will investigate for myslef.  At very least this program was at least good for fostering debate and the drive to self educate.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 22:59"},{"nm":"Stephan Van Heerden","rs":"0","ms":"In response of Steve Oct 15, 2009 02:01 earlier comment on numbers winning a war. If you give 10 men a m16 standard issue rifles\nand you give 1 well trained special forces unit with the same m16 standard issue rifle he could single handedly eliminate multiple enemies whereas those 10 men could remove maybe half the amoumt as the special forces unit, and they would probably lose 2 - 3 of their men. Its not the amount you send its the skill you send. If we sent 50000 poorly equiped but well trained men this war would be a walk through the park but if we sent 50000 poorly trained recruits we would have a massacre if 2 out of the 10 died, thats 10000 American fathers, sons, brothers, wives and daughters that wouldnt return to their families and loved ones. Send skill not numbers. Good luck echo company, Good luck American Troops, God bless.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 20:23"},{"nm":"Stuart Needels","rs":"0","ms":"Many, but not all of the comments I have seen below are the fruits of previous beliefs, rather than reflection on the information provided by Frontline. When will we see more of the populace think for themselves, rather than rely on others to think on their behalfs.\n\nI behoove (sp?) people to add information and analysis to the discussion rather than regurgitate propaganda from one side or the other. Whether you agree with my beliefs or not, I respect most those who dare to state their mind.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 18:49"},{"nm":"RH","rs":"0","ms":"Like most Frontline presentations, this one in particular so important because the reporters know the daunting questions to ask.\n\nFirst, having worked SE Afghanistan along the border areas a year or so after the initial attack..no doubt alot of things have changed..but, that was almost  7 years ago.\n\nThe word &quot;Taliban&quot; means religious students-plural.  When the locals hear this word, their definition is greatly contrary to the Soldiers or Marines.  Did many of you see men between 18-40 in the presentation?  No!  That is because the locals are themselves in most cases the Taliban.  Who provides logistical support for the insurgents?  How do they transport their ammo, water, food and supplies?  These are a few of the questions perhaps not addressed in the presentation.\n\nAfghanistan has and will never be identified by a functioning central government.  This is the exact reason why tribal shuras or council have become the local &quot;governmental&quot; function for generations.  The &quot;show&quot; of flying in the government officials from Kabul was shameful..and the locals know this.  \n\nSince I left SE Afghanistan...there has been not less than 10 people working my position...and no doubt telling the same story and attempting to generate personal relationships or a kind of mutual respect and responsibility.  After two or three rotations and hearing basically the same thing..it become redundant and frankly counterproductive.  The Marines in Helmand are doing their very best-but, that said, give it another couple of months with mounting causalities and the &quot;friendship&quot; bonding experience will quickly dissipate.  Perhaps the strategists and planners in Washington can say..&quot;well, lets win the hearts and minds..and the locals will turn on the bad guys..&quot;  THIS WILL SIMPLY NOT WORK.  And, if General P and General Mc think the &quot;Sons of Iraq&quot; was the backbone of the counterinsurgency &quot;win&quot; in Iraq..they are fooling themselves.  What we did is just hire the former Iraqi Army soldiers that someone in the Bush Administration (THE WHO HAS YET TO BE DETERMINED) completely disbanded the Iraqi Army...and the Iraqi ministry(s).  That is correct..we just bought off the bad guys..and so far it has worked, because the former Iraqi insurgents...now have jobs.\n\nBut, back to Afghanistan-\n\n1. Nation building in the context of the presentation will never work..it is and would be a generational challenge.\n\n2. Pakistan has and will be the lever which can increase the insurgent attacks on the US/ISAF or moderate.  There are many within the ISI who want a more Islamic form of government..there are also many who reap the rewards of the opium grown, but mostly processed in Pakistan.\n\n3. Corruption as noted is a bountiful profession...corruption is built into the fabric of the country..and also a generational challenge for those of us from the West.  Peace and stability originating from Kabul, as mentioned is impossible..only regional forms of government based on language, cultural norms, clans and religion (Shia in the west..Sunni in the east) will have any chance to succeed.  \n\n4. Infrastructure development..without security..and that means SECURITY and safety..the NGO\'s of the world will never venture out of Kabul..and as such nothing will ever get done unless we burden the Marines and Army at every level the additional responsibility of infrastructure development.  True, the CERF initiative at the PRT level provides and has provided some completed projects..but, real on the ground infrastructure simply has not been successful....these past 8 years.\n\n5. The Afghan National Army..the ANA.  Because of no national identify...are the young men from Paktia Province or Logal Province going to be deployed to Helmand Province (about 300 miles) to fight the insurgents...this will never happen.  But, would these same men fight within their own province..under one of the esteemed Afghan elders to protect the locals..absolutely.\n\nAnd lastly, having deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq...I can say without much reservation, the Bush Administration laid the current situation upon the currrent administration...and the American people.  I witnessed critical assets be drained away from Afghanistan in early 2003 in support of the attack on Iraq.  We and the troopers you saw in the Frontline presentation are paying a heavy price for those strategic mistakes.\n\n ","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 15:22"},{"nm":"Virginia","rs":"0","ms":"Our mistake is fighting a &quot;War on terrorism&quot;.  How about a &quot;War on armed temper tantrums&quot; or a &quot;War on perceived obsessive attempts to solve problems using violence against others&quot;?  These enemies seem to be what we do when we send our military into other countries to find and kill would-be terrorists.  Is this more likely to stop terrorism than anything else?","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 15:20"},{"nm":"Alex Tomlinson","rs":"0","ms":"Good documentary.  The ambiguity of the end captured the dilemma of our stalemate.  Do we dig further? and if so what for?\n\nIt seems as though occupation in not a solution that Americans are willing to accept. Our dedication to this war is not even close to the level needed for the many years, billions of dollars, and thousands of lives that are necessary for \'victory\'.  And even then, we must ask, \'what is victory?\'  Redemption for 9/11, security against Afghan based terrorism, building a secure national government and army?  If it is the later, which seems more and more likely from the interviews in this film and comments from Obama\'s administration, shouldn\'t we recognize that the military is not a very effective way to enhance civil society. The role of nation building should fall on foreign aid: financing the building of schools, farms, hospitals, watchdogs, and NGOs to name a few.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 14:59"},{"nm":"Brielle","rs":"0","ms":"I know that a lot people in America are hurting now, because of the economy.  People tend to go within when they are hurting.  Something I have learned.  When having a rough day or things are tough, that is the time to find somebody to help.  When we focus on helping somebody else, we take our minds off ourselves, and the challenges seem smaller in our thoughts and in our lives.  I encourage people find someone to help, somebody else to care about, then the problems diminish in our lives.  Help an elderly neighbor, give a dollar to a charity, find someone to help and care about.  I ask in the Name of Lord Jesus Christ, please support our troops, please keep them in your hearts and in your prayers.  We have a new war.  Rally the Homefront!!!  I know the war in Afghanistan has been around, but it feels like it is just starting.  I think about it, if we did not have people willing to defend our country, we all would be in slave labor somewhere or in a harem somewhere.  (That is what has happened, in the past, to people who could not defend their country.  We are fortunate that our military is strong, that we don\'t have to fight on our homefront, we can take it to the enemy.)  Once again I say thank you to our troops and their families.  Our troops are very courageous and truly the best and the brightest America has.  I am very proud of our troops.  I am very proud of my family members who have served and who serve.  Rally the Homefront, please support our troops.  Watching this documentary motivated me to start a blog.  www.prayersforamericastroops.blogspot.com  My family is a praying family.  By the Grace of God, all of our troops come home safely.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 14:38"},{"nm":"Vish Kay","rs":"0","ms":"If Afghanistan is a necessary war (which I don\'t dispute) I think we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.  The United States is now competing for limited resources and its own (product- and service-) provisioning with all the countries of the world (the rest of the world has technology and resources competitive with US) but most of all with China. In this context, it will serve us well to ponder the following questions:\nWhy is Afghanistan a problem for USA but not for China?  (That is such a great advantage that the Chinese enjoy over us!) The Chinese actually have a history of suppressing a muslim population within their borders (Xinjiand province). Why is Al-qaeda not a threat to them?  The Chinese feel no need to send troops to Afghanistan. What can we do to be insulated like China?","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 14:15"},{"nm":"Randy","rs":"0","ms":"I used to be a big fan of Frontline/PBS, but it seems that it too has become a voice of the administration.  \n\nFor those of you who beleive we\'re in Afghanistan because of 9/11 or terrorism (Dave) you\'re totally uninformed.  Please go back to watching Faux News and stop wasting your time commenting on things you\'re totally clueless about.\n\nAlthough I praise the show and the combat videographer for capturing and showing the audience a little of what is happening to out soldiers there (I used to be a combat videographer), but you did not touch on any of the reasons why the US is still destroying these two countries.  \n\nYou failed to mention that each military base and fort is strategically located to guard portions of a massive pipeline.  You failed to mention that Kharsi is a VP of Unical Oil.  You fialed to mention the eradication of the opium crop by the Taliban prior to the invation (150 tons) and the yearly record breaking opium crops since the US invasion (6500 tons) and the fact that US soldiers are forbidden to interfear with opium cultivation.\n\nSo, to put it blunty, this show on Afghanistan was totally worthless.  I now condider Frontline/PBS to be just another arm of the Ministry of Propaganda.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 13:35"},{"nm":"Arsalan","rs":"0","ms":"This was a great documentary like frontline\'s other documentaries, however, no one even mentioned the role that Iran does play and could play with respect to the war in Afghanistan. Iran nearly attacked Afghanistan 2 years before 911 and Taliban is Iran\'s sworn enemy which could make Iran a helpful tool for United States just like it was in the beginning of Afghanistan war","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 06:46"},{"nm":"Doric","rs":"0","ms":"The American media, including PBS, has conducted a systematic cover-up of the real economic and strategic interests that underlie the war against Afghanistan that had been in planning for over a decade—a part of a broader strategy of the US elites to control the resource rich regions of the Middle East to offset the irreversible decline of US economic power. \n\nThe PBS documentary is a repugnant piece of work that seeks to provide political cover for imperialist slaughter by a cabal of liars, thieves and war criminals that are erecting a police state at home to suppress growing opposition to the physical, economic and cultural despotism they are inflicting on the American people and millions around the world. \n\nAmerica is a degenerate plutocracy in an advance stage of decay wildly thrashing about in its death throes inflicting pain suffering and misery in its wake. \n\nThe founding fathers are revered for their revolutionary courage and integrity in the face of tyranny—our freedoms and our inviolable rights are being crushed under the jackboot of neo-fascist despots. \n\nWe are faced with one choice. Do we assemble on the side of despots liars and thugs and their corporate backers, that wrap themselves in the flag and hide behind the church or on the side of freedom, fraternity and liberty and fight for our rights and those of our fellow man.\n\n\n&quot;He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.&quot;\n\nAlbert Einstein\n","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 06:45"},{"nm":"MJW","rs":"0","ms":"My son is a Staff Sgt. for the USAF, and returne from a 6 month deployment in late July.  It was the longest 6 months of my life, his young marriage did not survive and he is devestated.  Our church sent him 100 pounds of hard candy (something he requested right after he got to his FOB)...he planned to give it to the kids he came in contact with...after a few weeks, and realizing that these &quot;kids&quot; were more interested in making pretend guns with their fingers and pretending to &quot;shoot&quot; him as he went by, he lost all interest in trying to be &quot;nice&quot;....Instead, he lost his heart to a litter of puppies that were born on his small base...unfortunately the incoming new commander of this base said..&quot;get rid of the dogs&quot;...thankfully, they were there when he needed them, it got him thru the last lonely days of his deployment...when I asked if he could get them homes with the locals he said &quot;mom, they can\'t afford to feed their families..they don\'t have pets&quot;...and the puppies (which he named after music artists...Elvis, Aretha, Jerry Lee) were rounded up and taken out to the &quot;range&quot; to be used for target practice...I know this is war...and this is a small thing...but this shows some of the real difference in how we live and how this country is...and we can\'t change it...not in 8 years, not in 60 years...and the new ROE that are in place are just exposing our warriors to a risk that is inexcusable...","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 03:01"},{"nm":"Bill Tuffin","rs":"0","ms":"As a community development worker, I see lots of room to train these soldiers to have better listening skills when talking with villagers and to know how to work better with an interpreter. The soldiers would get a lot better information and they would get more respect from the villagers leading to winning hearts and minds. ","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 02:59"},{"nm":"J3D1","rs":"0","ms":"even i\'m not us citizen but i\'m support your troop .. all us citizen should to ..","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 02:27"},{"nm":"Steve ","rs":"0","ms":"It seems to me that we are funding our own war by providing aid money to aid a war. I say, cut the funding. Send in the troops, a large number of them, for a clean sweep up to the borders of Pakistan. Then support the Afghan government and get rid of corruption. Train an army, control the boarders and reestablish confidence in the afghan people.  To me it seems so simple, numbers wins wars! Not a team of 10 soldier going after a bunch of cowards hiding in the forest. What if there were 100 soldiers very well equip going towards the cowards. This war would not have lasted this long and cost so much.  \nSimplicity is an art and we are not all artist.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 02:01"},{"nm":"Nader","rs":"0","ms":"THANK YOU to the staff of Frontline for this program. The question we have to ask ourselves is what is the definition of victory in Afghanistan? We are obviously in damage control mode and that is it! One only has to understand the history of the last 50 years to understand why the Taliban exists and the ironies are SURREAL. The CIA created and armed the Mujahadeen to protect the &quot;free world&quot; from the spread of Communism/Socialism and now we are dealing with the after effects of our mis-guided policies. The war in Afghanistan was supposedly in response to 911, but so was was the war in Iraq. The one thing that is indisputable is that without economic development in Afghanistan and Pakistan the military approach will fail. The sad reality is that the burden(human and economic) of this war has been put on the few people and their families who in many instances have little options but to join the armed forces. In the end we have a mercenary army fighting on behalf of a capitalist system that seeks to exploit anyone and everyone in the name of freedom and liberty. ","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 01:54"},{"nm":"Peaceful Sanity","rs":"0","ms":"Obama\'s War seemed to be biased to military solutions, which is typical. I don\'t trust Frontline for these kinds of one-sided programs. The world could help Afghanistan solve problems in other ways, through development of agriculture, education, infrastructure. The American soldiers are too uneducated, poor communicators, and have violence on the brain from significant brainwashing. The military industrial complex uses this kind of film to get more funding for their destructive approach. Who would trust people who whoop and cheer when they kill? America is killing its reputation, decade after decade, by committing these atrocities. Were there any women in Afghanistan? Where there any women consulted in the film? Hardly. War is the military profiteer\'s pathological rut.\n\nAfghanistan: Will Obama Listen to the Women?  \n\<a href=&quot;http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/08-7&quot;\>http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/08-7\<\/a\> \n\nNo doubt, Frontline is censoring a lot of comments. They censored several of mine so far. Is Frontline a front for the imperialists?","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 01:49"},{"nm":"Joe Turner","rs":"0","ms":"Your piece should have been called &quot;Another Contractor\'s War.&quot; When all is said and done it will be the contractors not the American people that will have benefited from Afghanistan. There is also the question of what is the real agenda here, clearing out the Taliban or making Afghanistan safe for OIL and GAS pipelines??? If Ghenghis Khan, the British Army, and the brutal Russian Army couldn\'t hold Afghanistan what makes the U.S. think it can do any better (see Charlie Wilson\'s War)??? Instead of wasting another $3 trillion we should declare victory and leave Afghanistan, increase the size of the FBI, and take the task of national security more seriously instead of letting another Pearl Harbor happen (it was Bush and his cronies that let 9/11 happen). I would much rather see our nations resources spent on the American people in the form of jobs, health care, a relevant education system, help for the the homeless, an end to poverty, pension security, and a robust prosecution of the crooks on wall Street than on Afghanistan. Oh yea, its time we also reviewed our lax immigration and border security policies!","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 01:36"},{"nm":"Stephan Van Heerden","rs":"0","ms":"Really I believe that the request is correct and we need more troops there. I like that frontline has this coverage and that there is lots of coverage of the events. Personally I think we can win this and I think we have to. If America loses this war the future is grim for us, imagine a world where terrorists and islam extremists control. In response to Anonymous Oct 14, 2009 23:01 I want to say that I think America needs to be there I respect President Bush for sending the troops, if he had done nothing people would throw more critisism in his face because what leader does nothing in the face of terrorist attacks. Best of luck to Echo company, and to the American Soldiers. God Bless","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 01:26"},{"nm":"J","rs":"0","ms":"Mis-titled.  This does not focus at all on Obama, however it is a great view from the ground, and upper level politics within the country, and the international politics involved in regard to Pakistan.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 01:15"},{"nm":"David","rs":"0","ms":"Excellent work. I am thankful that our military machine is the best in the world and that our men and women represent the  interests of our country. However just like our Native Indians in the US the Afghan tribes are in a struggle with a country who is not in tune with their society and belief systmes. I respect the rights of indigenous societies to exist in freedom with the same civil liberties that we possess in this country.  It is difficult to put young marines in the same leadership role as a village elder. The tribal elders are going to stay and deal with the problems of allegiance during occupation. The Taliban and Al Queda are not going back to the states. The French during the Nazi occupation can relate to this situation. \nI would like to learn more about the political ambition of the Taliban and Al Queda as it relates to the development and future of Afghanistan. Maybe this country is not going to be developed under a strong central government. The native Indian tribes of America thrived without a stong central government and why should we feel that our treatment of the native indians would be a successful model for Afghanistan. \nWhy does Afghanistan have to lose its identity to the control of foriegn governments?\nFollow the money and you usually find the real reason for violent conflict. Oil and drugs and the financial control of those assets lead us down the path of violence. Its a profitable game for the participants with excellent financial rewards. The reason this game is still going on is because of the continuing access to the profits for both parties. By heart goes out to those who die along the way. Especially the innocent for they are helpless victims in the path of greed and corruption.\n \nThree cheers for the courageous marines.  Be watchful warriors for your enemy are freedom fighters and love has an odd way of manifesting itself in the heart of a man in battle.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 01:12"},{"nm":"Anonymous","rs":"0","ms":"Its a sad situation this war has no end in sight. I bealive that the US goverment truly has no clue what to do anymore, Its going to be another repeat of what the Soiviet Union suffered. And now with this troop increase its not going to help win this war its going to create more loss. I just dont know what to think of this anymore. \n\nGodbless our troops that are stuck in the middle of this mess.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 01:02"},{"nm":"Sweetwalter","rs":"0","ms":"As an ex-Nam contractor who did all the dirty ops that the military wouldn\'t do, I see a repeat in Iraq and Afghanistan of the mistakes we made in that war.  This is not, I repeat, NOT, a winnable war.  The locals do not support us as the national gov\'t is corrupt in both Pakistan and Afghanistan and the locals know it.  The US also has a history of making promises to the local populace that we fail to keep leaving them exposed to the Taliban when they return to power in their regions and inflict their retribution on the people that support our troups.  To win this war, either we must use all of our &quot;assets&quot; including tactical nuclear weapons to destroy their mountain enclaves or get the hell out...you either destroy the enemy with all you have or don\'t try to win a in a way with troops on the ground and small arms in a battle field that favors ununiformed insurgents that blend with the local populous that support them.  The bottom line is...shit or get off the pot.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 00:50"},{"nm":"Sarah Terry-Cobo","rs":"0","ms":"As always, Frontline\'s insight into Afghanistan and Pakistan is amazing and eye-opening. I appreciate how the commentary flowed from one official to the next, especially the Pakistani official who was trying to evade questions about Mullah Omar and his presence in the country. This documentary has advanced the story from previous in-depth reporting David Montero did in several Frontline/World series. Bravo for keeping us up to date on this situation.\n\nThe only two questions I have are these: what do the soldiers think about counterinsurgency? I would have like to have heard a bit from the guys on the ground we see in the beginning, to understand how they interpret counterinsurgency tactics. \n\nI also wonder has President Obama and his cabinet seen this? I hope he could spare an hour or two of his precious time to screen this doc and discuss with his generals, special envoys and cabinet members.\n\nFinally, I want to thank everyone at Frontline for outstanding reporting and producing on this doc. Please continue to follow this situation so we can stay updated and have informed opinions about our nation\'s war policy.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 00:46"},{"nm":"Marco Polo","rs":"0","ms":"Well it looks like this Neocon wetdream of Holbrooke is turning into a nightmare.  The United States Marines look more like Israeli soldiers in Gaza.  I wonder who really planned this mess?\nWe\'ve got the watches, the Taliban has the time.  It\'s time we got out of Afghanistan.","pt":"Oct 15, 2009 00:24"},{"nm":"Joe Dyck","rs":"0","ms":"Just for the record, 100 years before the Afghan\'s kicked 500,000 Soviet\'s butt, they kicked out the British, the same way. I think the American involvement in the war has a lot more to do with drugs than anything else. When the Taliban got in power, they banned the growing of Opium poppies, and had almost eradicated the Opium trade in Afghanistan. Now Afghanistan is back to making more than 90% of the world\'s Opium. A similar phenomena happened in the &quot;Golden Triangle&quot; during Vietnam times. Is it someone in the US government who is running drugs? You have to wonder. . . Anyway, like in any country, if the people in it are not willing to fight for it, then why should anyone else? This should really be treated like a civil war, with NATO supplying logistics and training and helping to rebuild the country, and leave the Afghans to decide their own fate. It\'s not Obama\'s War, it\'s Afghanistan\'s Civil War.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 23:51"},{"nm":"Anonymous","rs":"0","ms":"I\'m not really sure what this documentary was supposed to do.  It made me really see that we don\'t belong there.  We have so many problems in this country that we need to address....poverty, homelessness, education, etc.  We have young men and women being put in this awful scenarios and putting their lives at risk.  FOR WHAT??  Yes, the Afghans deserve to have rights, I believe that, but I don\'t believe in this war.  I don\'t know how else I would solve this problem, but this is just so sad to see our brothers and sisters having to fight this war.  Someone has brain washed them to think that this is good and what they want.  I know many people are not going to like what I have said.  I am sorry.  ","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 23:01"},{"nm":"Ronald Gardner","rs":"0","ms":"We lack the intestinal fortitude of our forefathers.  We have to be willing to accept casualties and share the same risks of those we wish to help.  This means putting more soldiers, civilians to nation build and be willing to be merciless in combat.  We did it in Japan, Germany and Korea.  When we failed to do so such as Haiti we have solved nothing.  All to often the notion of new leadership via elections magically solves the problems is both naive and dangerous.  We need to realize that success comes from a strong government (ie army and police) that protect and is accepted by the people.  This will takes decades, but the benefits are well worth it.  ","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 22:29"},{"nm":"Don McLachlan","rs":"0","ms":"Good reporting however I believe its not only Obama\'s war, it is the whole world\'s war. I believe Pakistan is a very key part of this war and Obama\nand America needs to straighten out that government. A good start would be\nto cut out the funding. I would also like the readers to review the web site\nwww.asecondlookatthesaudis.com  Thank you PBS, Don Mac","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 22:27"},{"nm":"Lauren Wolf","rs":"0","ms":"This comment is directed towards Jason Walker\'s comment posted at 21:27.  This war did not start because of weapon suspicions. This war started because OUR people were killed on OUR soil with OUR planes. Please don\'t forget this.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 22:12"},{"nm":"Clark Gegler","rs":"0","ms":"This is great footage, but what i take from this is that Afghanistan is becoming another Vietnam. America should pull back troops from Iraq use them in Afghanistan. The United States cannot win two wars because most Americans have felt the cost of not just money but the lives of our troops as well. too many people have died for these wars to continue its time to consolidate or start pulling out.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 22:04"},{"nm":"tariq","rs":"0","ms":"Good effort. It is time that someone asks questions but this is still Frontline. Unless Fox and CNN show I wonder how many people watch this. It is ridiculous that the company does not have a translator. The Taliban play cat and mouse with the marines. They know exactly how many and where they are. It is naive to believe that local population will side with an occupation force instead of someone who speaks there language, shares religious believes and will not abandon them. I feel for the soldiers who are thrown into this sad situation and expect to do the impossible. My doubts about America delivering were reinforced after watching this documentary. Blaming Pakistani,s for our failures does not help either. Did we not know what their limitations are and why are we suddenly not trusting them. It is wrong to occupy someone else,s house and the sooner we get out the better it is.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 21:46"},{"nm":"Jason Walker","rs":"0","ms":"I disagree with the name of this..This is W\'s war. He started it with no proof of weapons. Soldiers have died over lies,and the ones who lived got nothing to show for it but missing limbs. If they call it anything with Obama\'s name on it it should be called Obama\'s Inherited War.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 21:27"},{"nm":"Stu Needels","rs":"0","ms":"I enjoyed the documentary and hope to review more detailed interviews on the Frontline website. A number of comments and questions came to mind however.\n\nIt was interesting how we saw emotions come out. That was particularly eveident with the Head of Afghan Intelligence, Amrullah Saleh, and Lt Col Nagl. Nagl: &quot;I have to hold my nose when dealing with the Pakistani government&quot;. Saleh mentioned that he believes that neither the Bush administration nor the Obama administration has been tough enough with the Pakistani\'s.\n\nMy thought is this. As mentioned by Frontline, the Pakistani ISI seem to consider the Taliban &quot;Strategic Depth&quot; for international relations. When do we subtly say to the  the ISI, that we could treat Indian Intelligence agencies as &quot;strategic depth&quot; against them? Turnabout is fair play, right? While I realize, this is schoolyard justice, perhaps some toughness is called for.\n\nPerhaps an initial warning could be sent by helping Indian Intelligenece exact some revenge on lashkar-i-taiba, the haqqani network, and the folks from Lal Masjid. I saw the guy Hafez Saeed was released again. Unbelievable!\n\nAlso, there was another Indian embassy bombing in Afghanistan. To me, Pakistan should be put on notice, that &quot;two can play at that game&quot;, and we will help to minimize their role in the world and ability to defend themselves from India if they don\'t start acting like the ally they profess to be.\n \nRehman Malik looked like he knew he was lying about the Haqqani network as well as Mullah Omar being in Pakistan/Quetta. I wish they showed Malik, General Mullen\'s interview about Pakistan leaders being confronted with evidence of ISI involvelment with terrorist groups including the Haqqani\'s. He (Malik)plays it off as &quot;old intelligence&quot;, but this is word play as no one has backed off of this accusation in recent days.\n \nBy the way, who is the US Ambassador to Pakistan? Is it Richard Holbrooke? It appears that he handles both Afghanistan and Pakistan, but Karl Eikenberry is the ambassador to Afhanistan. Who handles Pakistan diplomacy? Is there a specific diplomat?\n\nDavid Kilcullen himself doesn\'t see a Pakistan strategy laid out. He expects it will come, but that is a bit concerning. It seems that only the appointment of Richard Holbrooke addresses that the war is an Af/Pak problem.\n \nFurthermore, While I support Kilcullen\'s COIN strategy, what is the advocated &quot;exit strategy&quot;? When are we done? What is the goal? Stability? how do we define that?  Celeste Ward talks about &quot;Nation Building&quot;, others talk about &quot;Nation REBUILDING&quot;, her fear, &quot;presence in perpetuity&quot;, is a reasonable fear. \n\nToward the end of the documentary, someone mentions that an exit strategy must involve many more afghan troops. It also metions 600,000 as a number of troops needed under standard &quot;counter-insurgency&quot;? Where does that calculation come from? Why can\'t we protect the population centers, then gradually move out to the countryside as locals assert control of the cities? Wouldn\'t this require fewer troops?\n\nAdditionally, some argued that as the Pakistani\'s start an operation in Waziristan, the militants will take the rural territory abandoned in Afghanistan. (As a part of the new population center COIN strategy). For example, our decision to leave Nuristan and other similar locales. Wouldn\'t drones and &quot;air power&quot; be effective against a retreating insurgents fleeing into afghanistan?\n\nAnyway, I am not an expert on this issue, but find this a fascinating topic that will have implications for our country for years to come.\n","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 21:20"},{"nm":"Kevin Baca","rs":"0","ms":"Can someone please explain how the Taliban are a &quot;proxy&quot; of the Pakistani government when they\'re actively fighting one another? I feel like this point was left unexplained in the program. ","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 21:00"},{"nm":"Rene Tricou","rs":"0","ms":"The Rules of Engagement have been made to favor the Enemy!!\nMy son is a Marine and is afraid to shoot the emeny if a civilian is too close. He says he will go to prision for 7 years! Probmem: Define a civilian; - An insergent who\'s gun can\'t be seen on his person.(until you turn your back.) \nIf one of the enemy is carrying an AK47, you can\'t shoot unless he shoots at you first!\nThe President wants the US soldier death rate to go up enough that the public will say get out. \nIf Obamah bows to a Saudi Prince, who is his alegience to, Americans or Muslims?","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 19:49"},{"nm":"Tim","rs":"0","ms":"Objective. Nicely done. A complimentary piece to consider would be the NSC process going on within the White House right now. Perhaps you could explain why the president is taking several weeks to review a report that should have been briefed up to the White House as the review progressed. Simply put, shouldn\'t they have seen this coming?","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 19:17"},{"nm":"bankster","rs":"0","ms":"i wonder if these soldiers realize that there are fighting for the corperation called the united states corperation, incoperated in the state of delaware.\n\nDo you think that any soldier who died in any of our many wars would have fought if he or she had known the truth? Do you think one person would have laid down his/her life for a corporation? How long will we remain silent? How long will we perpetuate the MYTH that we are free? When will we stand together as One Sovereign People? When will we take back what has been as stolen from the us? \n\n\n\nTHE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is the constitution of the incorporated UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.  \n\nIt operates in an economic capacity and has been used to fool the People into thinking it governs the Republic. It does is not!  \n\nCapitalization is NOT insignificant when one is referring to a legal document. This seemingly &quot;minor&quot; alteration has had a major impact on every subsequent generation of Americans.  \n\nWhat Congress did by passing the Act of 1871 was create an entirely new document, a constitution for the government of the District of Columbia, an INCORPORATED government. This newly altered Constitution was not intended to benefit the Republic. It benefits only the corporation of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and operates entirely outside the original (organic) Constitution.\n\nInstead of having absolute and unalienable rights guaranteed under the organic Constitution, we the people now have &quot;relative&quot; rights or privileges. One example is the Sovereign\'s right to travel, which has now been transformed (under corporate government policy) into a &quot;privilege&quot; that requires citizens to be licensed.  \n\nBy passing the Act of 1871, Congress committed TREASON against the People who were Sovereign under the grants and decrees of the Declaration of Independence and the organic Constitution. \nby  lisa guliani","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 19:14"},{"nm":"wolfiesma","rs":"0","ms":"Excellent documentary. What I got from it was that the Taliban is part of the Afghan society. We can win battles, but how can we ever win a war whose purpose is to selectively remove one segment of the population? We could stay there forever and still fail to remove the Taliban. Economic and diplomatic engagement with the Taliban seems to be the way forward. The military occupation inflames anti-American aggression. We need to get out of there. Change course. We can\'t babysit every village in Afghanistan. \n\nThe most telling moment in the documentary was when the Marine tells the group of Afghan men that they should tell the Taliban to stay away. &quot;But you have the guns. You have the tanks. We don\'t even have swords! If you can\'t make them go, how can we?&quot; \n\nIf we can\'t win the war, why are we fighting it? Bring the troops home. I want my tax dollars spent building this nation, not Afghanistan! ","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 19:11"},{"nm":"NP","rs":"0","ms":"Chris Matthews on Hardball jokingly suggested the following strategy for Afghanistan --  exit out as though we\'ve given up;  then let all the Taliban and Al Qaida crazies move back in from across the Pakistan border and around the region to take control; then come back and wipe them out.  I love the concept. Would that only it could be true.  \n\nSeriously, there is really no simplistic solution to either Afghanistan or the larger battle against radical Islam.  This mess could be decades long, but it is not a fight that the Western world can afford to be passive about unless we want to see ourselves and the world constantly harrassed and eventually enslaved by these zealous radicals.  I only wish that our leaders did a better job communicating the big picture of this battle and just how high the stakes are.  Maybe then Americans would rally and take some decisive action rather than try to blissfully live as if we are in peacetime. (I know that the poorly timed and prosecuted Iraq War may be a big part of public disillusionment and distrust; I share some of those feelings. But we need to get historical perspective and realize that mistakes are made in all wars; some bigger than others.  It is critcal for our nation to regroup and stay focused rather than get stuck in despair or inaction).  Thank you to all who are putting your lives at stake for the rest of this country.   We can never fully thank you as you deserve.  May God grant you protection and give you success and bring you home quickly.    And may God grant wisdom to our political and military leaders as they grapple with this ongoing fight. ","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 18:41"},{"nm":"Ric","rs":"0","ms":"Saw the program. Excellent. You showed the battle and frustration that the foot soldier has to deal with. This is a point of view we all need to see. Thank-you for your coverage so discussions can be based on fact.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 18:18"},{"nm":"Bill B.","rs":"0","ms":"While the ISI may be partly to blame for the Taliban\'s perseverance, you fail to note their principal financial and ideological benefactors:\n\n\<a href=&quot;http://www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com&quot;\>http://www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com\<\/a\>\n\nJust two weeks ago there was further confirmation that the Saudis continue to fund the resurgent Taliban:\n\n\<a href=&quot;http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-dc-terror-funding,0,1338802.story&quot;\>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-dc-terror-funding,0,1338802.story\<\/a\>\n\nWhen are we going to call them on this?","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 17:33"},{"nm":"Andrew","rs":"0","ms":"Where is the State Dept in all this? Does Holbrooke just fly into Kabul with his cool sun-glasses make a few statements and fly back to DC? What hubris on his part. I got news for the great Holbrooke... This ain\'t the Balkans.\n\nWhere is the modern day Marshall Plan for Afghanistan? Why does the job of nation building fall to the military?","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 17:32"},{"nm":"Renelle","rs":"0","ms":"I WISH THE WAR WOULD STOP BECASUE MY BROTHER AHS BEEN THERE WAS HURT NOT DEAD (THANK GOD) BUT I DONT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN AND LOOK AT ALL TEH PEOPLE THAT SUFFORD THAT THERE FAMILY MEMBER DIED IN THE WAR IT RIDICULAS THAT IS DOESNT STOP","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 17:10"},{"nm":"dude","rs":"0","ms":"Frontline makes great documentaries and putting them online is just about the rockinest thing you could do ! Props!!!","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 17:09"},{"nm":"janelle","rs":"0","ms":"my husband and friends are in there! oohrah","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 16:49"},{"nm":"Lynn Mahoney","rs":"0","ms":" As a mother of a Marine who served you who write in ignorance the Marines  live in severe conditions, if you missed this watching the video.  Get out of your comfortable home, move to Death Valley, drink hot water, eat military food, sleep and hike with 100lb. of all the belongings you need to survive, oh and while you are being shot at and study all the laguages spoken in the middle east and their culture, make sure you are polite because they will cut your tounge off if you drop your gun.  Don\'t express your ignorance since it is an slap in the face to our men and women living in this hell.  It is Obamas War now, to you petty Obama defenders.  Sign up Be A Marine","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 16:37"},{"nm":"Geoffrey Bacon ","rs":"0","ms":"The world is in the process of moving from one paradigm to the new. This war and all the others currently being waged are the last tremors of the old. The natural need to achieve power and control (both globally and regionally) over the majority, fed by the omnipotence of money and wealth is in its last throws. A new age is upon us, regardless of intellect, strategy, race or belief. The transition is a painful birth. This war (and the others in the past and future) are not Obama\'s, but America\'s and, in a wider view, the whole world\'s. Wars are being waged not only in deserts and foreign places, but also here at home. Hidden wars waged by liars, opportunists and tyrants. We are living in a fantasy. A fantasy lovingly created by our forefathers and perpetuated by our current system. \nWether Obama pulls the troops out today or &quot;once the mission is completed&quot; makes no difference.  The war has never ceased! For the last 4000 years we have been following the same logic. War for supremacy of material wealth. We are at a crossroads spiritually, financially, emotionally and truthfully. It is like it is. Human consciousness is rising. It is the law of nature. A law that needs no enforcers. \nYou are what you think. An original thought has more value and power that regurgitation of an old dogma. America attempted the greatest feat when the colonialists stood up against the tyranny of the British. Now the table has turned. The world will stand up to all tyranny very soon. We can either continue the path into the blinding light of destruction or think anew and walk into the blinding light of creation. \n","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 16:35"},{"nm":"Rowdy Martin","rs":"0","ms":"I have always enjoyed Frontline,  this is an increasing concern to me. I believe as all of us do that we want this to end and end quickly. But the evidence is there that the Taliban is very intelligent and very adaptable to any diplomacy we try to pursue, and their measures are not taking a very suttle approach, but the underlying factor is to take control and to cause death and destruction to any that oppose them.  It does look like we are fighting an endless war with them, and their reslove is very long.  I hope that we do not sit around on our backsides and anaylze this task and lose sight of our plans.  Work hard to find a solution and end this, come home and protect our own people and borders from these people. ","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 16:15"},{"nm":"Brielle","rs":"0","ms":"I want to tell our troops that Americans appreciate all that they are doing and all that they have done.  Most people do not say it, I think, but I would like to tell you how much we appreciate, value what you do for us.  We love you and you are in our hearts, your families, too.  I did a project for Soldiers Angels awhile back for our troops in Iraq.  I was amazed at how much support Americans have for our troops.  I don\'t think people always know how to show it, but you are appreciated and valued.  You are in our hearts and in our minds and in our prayers.  Anyone reading this, if you want to show your support for our troops Soldiers Angels has 1,700 soldiers who are looking for your support.  Please support our troops.  It does not matter what our political party is, it matters that the people who choose to defend our country know that they are appreciated.  And they are.  I wish I could go to Afghanistan and give out hugs and tell you that I appreciate you and all that you do.  If you, our troops or Echo Company need anything, encouragement or carepackages I am giving my email address for troops only if they need a friend.  Hugs for our troops.  briellelioness@yahoo.com  ","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 16:14"},{"nm":"jb","rs":"0","ms":"Nick lipkowski, your comments show why the average American does not understand the Afghan war.  Apparently you do not realize Afghan culture especially in the tribal regions do not allow women to talk to men outside of their family, nor are they in leadership roles.  Is it fair? Not by US standards, but they are not in the US.  We CANNOT go over there and try to replace their cultural beliefs with ours, we would only create more enemies.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 14:59"},{"nm":"june","rs":"0","ms":"first, for those hoping on bush et al policy: clinton had several opportunities to bag or kill bin laden, had sudan offering the too-hot-for-the-saudi\'s terrorist on a plate, so please keep it honestly fairly pointed. there is no telling how things might have been different had clinton acted.  NOTE:  I am NOT a republican; I outgrew this charade that is our legacy system by 12; no bias.  with regard to nation building.  poppycock.  that is not our role, especially not our military.  yes, since the days of w.wilson we have better understood our responsibility to liberty elsewhere, but building nations??   I read counterinsugency books going on about security forces and governance and planting peanuts--a school here and there, but when we have military on the ground not permitted to fire on a compound because there might civilians at risk therein risking our military that’s the time when our military should not be involved.  on that point, why would that be policy?  If we show our commitment to eliminating their comfort zones those tactics will disappear.  Civilians might be risked, but that is war.  We have fired bombed literally millions of civilians to death for the sake of war.  our military is about threat, either they are permitted to seek out and eliminate or get them out there.  I do not want hear a damn word about what those people have been through.   Does that really matter to americans, realistically?  Narrow minded?  Honest.  How many germans or french realy give a damn about what those people have been through?  Does their own gov’t give a damn---that mess of a nation??  sorry, there is so far we, the usa, can ride this push.  We should not have military members dying to build a country.  either this is a fully international movement to squeeze these sheep from their safe havens and a brutally committed effort to attack and eliminate or we leave.    Lastly, it is speculated this building mess will take 14 years starting not long ago—using a heck’uva lot more troops.  The arrogance that kills our finest noblest americans!!  We can’t turn around a neighborhood in less 10 years.  I’d like see somebody remedy some of our inner city issues in less than 14 years.   This strategy is more concerned for those people than our military and that is unacceptable.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 14:59"},{"nm":"Denise","rs":"0","ms":"Frontline does it again. What a wonderful program.  This program gave me an up-close look at what it’s like for our troops stationed there, and much insight into the complexities of this “war”.  I do not believe that our continued occupation of Afghanistan is the answer to all the issues facing their citizens. America cannot continue to invest our soldier’s blood and our countries tax dollars in a country run by corrupt men, and a population that wants us out of their country.  Politics in that region are too complicated with all the differing religious and tribal groups, and throw in an uneducated population…you have the perfect blend for failure.  The 10 billion dollars we will send to Pakistan over the next five years, and the billions we are pouring into Afghanistan and Iraq will certainly be better spent here in the US. If I thought there was any real hope of making a positive and lasting difference to any of these countries I would support the current path…but, I don’t.  There is no “end-state” to this “Nation Building”.  We need to focus our efforts here at home… reinforcing our own nation.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 14:31"},{"nm":"Richard L. Thompson, II, Esq.","rs":"0","ms":"The question, like most things in world affairs can be answered: &quot;It\'s complicated, and &quot;It depends.&quot;  It is complicated because while all war as a concept is unpredictable,  one must examine the terrane, goals and objectives of each side,  resources, both arms, man power and dedication of the warriors, and the cost benefit analysis of the individuals conducting the war.\n\nIn Or case that means political fall out. Versus, the complete feeling of the desruction of en entire social culture.  I have not specifically researched the topogrophy of Afganistan,  but I understand that it is mountainous, and rocky.  I also assume for the purpose of this discussion (assume because I do not know and have no read any intelligence briefings) that a commodity roduced an sold in the region is Poppy and or herion.  (I would be pleased to discover that I was wrong, and subject to th monopoly of the corporate media who have placed these two alleged facts, in my my mind.  BUt, since what we thing, IS TRUE ,  until we can observe otherwise,  it is as good a starting point as any.  We are also Aware that the soviet union faught a war with Afganistan that lasted much longer than 8 years despite a reasonably similar dispurportionate amount of fire power.  You remove the means of aying for munitions.   I don\'t know how hard it is to apot  POPPY FIELD FROM THE AIR,  BUT i AM FAIRLY CERTAIN the united states Military has means of identifying and in the open field.  THen the proper application of Napalm.  We then subsidize the farming of food crops with the war budget.  And rather than killing civiliams,  we remove the means of payment from the alleged &quot;heroine farmers&quot; supporting the war. .  Taliban, as a group of cultural islamic fringe is faught with more traditional interpretations of Islam in a media blitz to remind the people that Islam is not what is being used upon them as a means of sociAL CONTROL.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 14:30"},{"nm":"jk","rs":"0","ms":"The title of your show &quot;Obamas War&quot;, Why the need to sell your show with \nthis title?  The show last night was very insightful. The one element that was not covered was the discussion of economic diversification.\nie from poppies to pomegranites.  I also found it very ironic that Ret\nCommander Bracevich was on this show, as he recently spoke of the need of the American people to be more conscious of the other two branches of \nour government. That the media has focused on the Presidency for the past two decades, as the center of our media inspired consciousness.\nHence your cult of personality Show Title. Maybe your producer could visit with Mr. Bacevich on this subject as it too would be an enlightening show.\n","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 14:26"},{"nm":"JTR","rs":"0","ms":"Congratulations Frontline for a superb documentary. The situation in Afghanistan is similar to what happened in Vietnam and may have a similar outcome. ","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 14:03"},{"nm":"Samar","rs":"0","ms":"Thanks Frontline for bringing the truth to forefront! Pakistan has been using Taliban to start skirmishes on both sides of its borders - with India and with Afghanistan. International community doesn\'t pay much attention when the same problems are started within India by these Taliban warriors with Pakistan\'s backing. America\'s ally - Pakistan, is safe-keeping the enemy America is fighting. Not only that we are pouring billions into Pakistan to keep its political & militaristic infrastructure well-oiled but we are funding the trouble we are dealing with. Why to be so soft on Pakistan as well as Afghanistan when it is known how corrupt and lawless they are? Either pull-out or move into the hot bed of conflict to end it once and for all.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 13:50"},{"nm":"Justin","rs":"0","ms":"Kudos, Frontline for another insightful and well developed story.  \n\nThe problems are extraordinary and so many to fix - but none so much as the hypocracy of &quot;winning afghan hearts and minds.&quot; How can you do this when our ambassadors are kids who only know military discipline and can not speak the language, let alone act with wisdom and connection to the people?  Even the brass and Afghan officials do not have this.  At the end of the day, their goal is to leave and the indigenous Afghans know this all too well and expect it.  This is exactly what the Taliban is looking forward to.  Therefore, the answers are either make the Taliban correct and give them control of the country while we turn to internal problems with the US, or make such an effort that we make Afghanistan our next state of the union - fortify, building and staying - for the next few hundred years as a goal. Sustainably extract and use resources, promote immigration, trade, industry and education and install an operational government with clear oversight and law.  It\'s all or nothing and either way, we will see nothing good come of this when can not even do such things here at home.  Of course there\'s a third option - half ass it and watch as we drag this dead horse in a circle through a shameful mud.  Our servicemen deserve better training, leadership, goals and engaging and tangible thanks for standing their ground.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 13:39"},{"nm":"Anton Grambihler","rs":"0","ms":"This is not Obama\'s War or Bush\'s War; it is another United States Senate War. The Afghan War and the Iraq War were authorized by the United States Senate and are being financed by Congress. The President is only responsible for carrying out the Wars which the Senate Authorizes.\n\nWhen the Senate refused to Authorized World War I, the Special Interests got the Constitution changed so that instead of the Senators being representatives of the State they became instead representatives of the Special Interests. These Special Interests authorized President Wilson to turn a European War into World War I. This resulted in the death of over 750 million Citizens of the United States plus over 12 millions Citizens of the United States wounded.\n\nThe United States Senate controlled by Special Interests continues to Authorize and fund Illegal Wars.\n","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 13:27"},{"nm":"Dean","rs":"0","ms":"Given the fact that the enemy is (a) amorphous (b) unquantifiable (c) spread over geographical areas outside the legal borders of Afghanistan and (d) the cost of the campaign (e) the fact our military is asked to perform police functions rather than a military campaign towards ascertainable targets - I would rather abandon this effort as one that its costs far outweigh its benefits. When I watched the video I was struck by the comment of one villager, who under pressure to inform on enemy movements, replied:&quot;You guys have the best military in the world and still can\'t win; what do you want us really to do?&quot;","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 13:23"},{"nm":"Pro Militray Servicemembers in Afghanistan","rs":"0","ms":"Really, the Militray is not trained in Stability Operations!?  Please, then, tell me who is more trained.  Where is the force of non military?  Are then in line by the thousands ready to come in and perform these operations for us?  And where have they gained all of their experience?  Who has more experience in that area right now?   I seem to think the military has been at this continuously for almost 9 years.  It\'s not all about weapons and kinetics.  For those of you who believe these brave men and women lack the intelligence and cultural awarness to bring the people of this country together and would like to leave it to diplomats sitting around a table, I\'d ask that you pack your bags and come out here and watch what this &quot;Greatest Generation&quot; is doing every day.  Finally, for those of you who think this is about Exxon and Lockheed, there is no oil here, we are years away from a copper mine with mining rights sold to the Chinese, and I\'m pretty darn confident LM isn\'t going to succeed or fail based on a small AF Airforce which we will one day hopefully see.   Please people, OPEN your eyes.  We have talented youth all over this nations, but I\'m hear to tell you some of America\'s best and brightest are found right here defending and protecting the rights of the opressed, and they do this willingly, and they do this because they never want their own children to grow up in a country as war torn as this one, and they do this because although you question their intelligence, capabilities, and judgement, they do this despite you.  You have the right to say or do whatever you please, beacuse these brave men and women and their forefathers fought for your rights","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 12:46"},{"nm":"Meggan","rs":"0","ms":"My husband is a Marine with 2/8 Echo. He\'s been in Afghanistan for 7 months now. What sickens me about the bunch of you is your so worried about going back and forth about a stupid title of a program. You\'re concerned about who is to blame. If a fire is started, do you spend your time fighting about who started it??? No you work on doing what you can to put it out. THEN you can figure out who is to blame. My husband and his brothers over there need our support. He is fighting on behalf of ALL of us so other people like yourselves can sit on your ass all day making stupid comments, stuffing our faces with pastries, and zombiefying ourselves with TV and video games. The war isn\'t over yet, no one really knows when its going to be over...so in the mean time, SUPPORT OUR DAMN TROOPS!!! If they weren\'t voluntarily out there, ask yourself, would you have volunteered? Do you realize if there aren\'t enough volunteers they would hold a draft; so you\'d be forced to go? and if you were overseas, how would you feel about protecting a country who is more concerned about arguing over a damn title of a program?\n\nGO 2/8 ECHO AND ALL THE REST OF OUR TROOPS!!! RETURN HOME SAFE!!! THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO CARE ABOUT MORE THAN JUST THEMSELVES!!!","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 12:34"},{"nm":"Nick Lipkowski","rs":"0","ms":"thanks Frontline, what a splash in the face. just when it seemed we might be getting somewhere you reveal how clueless we are from the talking heads in DC to the hapless star warriors whose boots are on the ground. did anybody notice a single female among the Afghans? interracting solely with males ought to simplify things.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 12:31"},{"nm":"shayna","rs":"0","ms":"I am still trying to figure out why we are in Afghanistan.  I understand why we went there, to get Ben Ladin.  Why are we there now?  As a voter, I would like to know.  I pray the Lord will give our troops, military leaders, and leaders the wisdom to do the right thing and to be in the Lord\'s will (whatever that is in Afghanistan)in Christ Jesus.  If it is not in the Lord\'s will for us to be in Afghanistan, then I pray we get our troops on home.  For the moms of our Marines and Soldiers.  Psalm 91 daily.  There are Psalms we can pray over our troops for their protection and success.  I am going to be praying these Psalms over our troops please join me.  Psalm 91,16,18,21,23,25,27,31,32,33,34,37 (I take the part I want and pray it.) Also, kcm.org gives out &quot;No fear here&quot; material free for our troops upon request.  The Lord guide and protect all of our troops in Christ Jesus.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 12:16"},{"nm":"burden of responsibility","rs":"0","ms":"I want to thank Frontline for providing the public with a highly interesting and revelatory look at the Afghan War.  I\'m amazed and disheartened at what we as a country are asking our finest young men and women to do and at the delusional belief of the American military leaders and advisors – war seems to be the only option and success a matter of effort and commitment.  If we\'re going to be &quot;nation builders&quot; or &quot;peace keepers&quot; (as Thomas Freidman put it last week in his obnoxious ob-ed) the least we can do as a country is follow Col. Bavecich\'s advise and share the burden of responsibility.  I agree that it is &quot;deeply, deeply immoral that so few should have to pay so much while the vast majority of us basically pay nothing.”  If we’re going to be nation builders, and always at war, then every able bodied man and woman should be required to serve.  I would value a Frontline program that explored that element of our culture.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 12:00"},{"nm":"Mike G.","rs":"0","ms":"Again, another great program and wonderful footage of what is going on on the ground Frontline.  This is indeed Obama\'s War and he\'s in a serious pickle.  Obama was the candidate who promised us he\'d focus more of our military effort on the &quot;good war&quot;, but he\'s realizing all too quickly that achieving victory means more troops and very possibly invading parts of Pakistan to get the job done right.  Bush made serious mistakes with Rumsfeld\'s surgical strike with a small footprint strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan, but President Bush made serious headway when the surge was unleashed in Iraq, and nothing else but a surge will be our best chance to succeed in Afghanistan.  If a surge doesn\'t work, then nothing will and it will be time for us to exit the area.  Unfortunately, I feel Obama\'s campaign rhetoric is catching up with him like many other promises he made last Fall (raising middle class taxes, not closing Gitmo, etc.).  Obama\'s War is all his, that is the job he battled for over a year to get, well now he has it and it comes with taking responsibility for everything on day one.  Is he strong enough to deliver?  The early estimates don\'t look promising.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 11:50"},{"nm":"Ken McBride","rs":"0","ms":"Well, that was an eye opening commentary! We are sending our young, \nthe best we have, to defend a corrupt and dysfunctional government?\nWe are stuck, we can\'t leave and can\'t stay, WTF? President Obama has \nbeen in office for about nine months, Bush-Cheney was President(s) for \neight years and this tragedy in Afghanistan has gotten worse! It is \nnow President Obama’s war, which is why he is the Commander-in-Chief, \nwhich perhaps General McChrystal needs to be reminded! It is obvious \nthat this &quot;War on Terrorism&quot; is going to be long termed, decades, and \nwhat I want is a return to the DRAFT without any Cheney deferments! \nLet us have the sons of the Republican Christian neoconservatives who \nso advocate war but never serve, to be hauling their axx up the \nAfghanistan Mountains instead of cheering in their respective \ncollege/university football stadiums and enjoying the good &quot;times&quot; in \ntheir co-ed dorms! It is immoral and morally corrosive to ask less \nthen 1% of our young to bear this unending burden of war while NO \nSACRIFICE is asked of the majority of Americans, deploying these \nsoldiers and U.S. Marines over and over again into combat! Have we no \nshame, what kind of people are we?\nFRONTLINE is to be commended, you do outstanding journalism, thank you!\n","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 11:48"},{"nm":"Stewart","rs":"0","ms":"The commentary blamed the Interpreter for not speaking in the local dialect - when the problem was clearly the US soldier not speaking clear and precise English. What does the Military teach them about when dealing through Interpreters?\n\nI grieve when I see the adrenaline up in fighting forces, when the training and so say &quot;professionalism&quot; is lost; of being cool, calm, and collected!\n\nCommanders must be very worried about performance of the middle ranks.\n\nI think the mess is very much of our own making.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 11:17"},{"nm":"Michael","rs":"0","ms":"I enjoyed the program, but like many Americans I feel like we are not doing enough.  We need to either commit more troops or leave altogether.  Our strategy of trying to do more with less can get us nothing.  One segment of the program that bothered me was watching that Sgt. speaking with the interpreter and the group of locals.  He was very short and began to get frustrated.  I served in the Marine Corps and I understand how the average marine speaks, but having this Sgt trying to speak on behalf of the US was just plain wrong.  I can imagine how he can get anywhere with the tone he was using.  ","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 11:05"},{"nm":"hopeful","rs":"0","ms":"The fact of the matter is that we are in this war now and need to find a way to stabilize the government of Afghanistan. If we are able to help the Afghan people secure faith in a legitimate government, we can get to focusing solely on Islamic extremists that want to hurt people to make statements about their own ideology of hate.\n\nIf Frontline was lacking at all, it is because there is no definitive answer solving all of the problems the people of this region face and the impact that has on the rest of the world.  Wasn\'t that the point of the whole piece?\n\n-Faithfully patient and hopeful","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 10:50"},{"nm":"Miguel","rs":"0","ms":"A victory from an American perspective of a vanquished Taliban in Afghanistan is unattainable no matter how important we deem it to be.  The vast majority of Afghans have never and will never recognize or accept a central government that is anything more than a figure head.  We simply cannot force every tribe in this vast country to bend to our will.  As much as we may dislike the idea our only viable option is to leave Afghanistan and fund warlords to keep the Taliban in check.  To continue to waist billions and destroy the lives of soldiers and their families for pride is immoral.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 10:41"},{"nm":"Bob Horton","rs":"0","ms":"This IS &quot;Obama\'s War&quot; now for his is the job of finishing it, one way or the other.  The sturm and drang over the name of this incredible, landmark TV production is waaaaay off the point.  As a Marine of the 1960\'s, I especially admire the young fighting men in this show, am amazed at the technology they carry with them into the field, and am appalled at what we are asking so few of them to try to do to win this war.  I will say that far more troops, or far fewer, makes some sense to me...but what in truth do I know?  I do happen to think that a few dozen of the right troops, ala The Unit with heavy technology, could persist over time and find/kill Ben Laden and selected Al-Qaeda/Taliban leaders, but...I have no magic, intellectually showy answers to offer.  I pray that our President, whose name happens to be Barack Obama right now, has a host of advisors who can, with him, fashion the best next steps.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 10:20"},{"nm":"Rob","rs":"0","ms":"At this point in time—America’s plan/Patraius Afgan-Pakistan Counter Insurgency invasion plan needs to be carried out face to face-day by day by the politicians that put this invasion into action. If these politicians cannot put into action a plan that would warrant ground troops then get these troops out of there. To think that young inexperienced American soldiers can do it for them is the core of this wars evil insanity. \nAmerican ground troops cannot be the foot soldiers in the day to day “negotiation” of this war. Our troops should not be responsible for connecting the Afghanistan people with their government. This is an insane idea because it is vague to the tenth degree and is the most foolishly ambitious invasion ever implemented by the USA thusly making it the most deadly and irresponsible situation our troops have ever been put in. It’s time to get out and reassess.  \n","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 10:15"},{"nm":"permanent resident","rs":"0","ms":"Most comments seem to focus on the title rather than the issues. Whats in a name! The USA is much loved around the world but the foreign policy lacks understanding of local culture, history, issues etc. As someone said working with faith and family definitely garners local support. The young soldier sorely needed a better interpreter and cultural training for the mission at hand. Otherwise he is perceived as boorish. I admired his tenacity and persistence but got frustrated as well. \n\nUSA is funding both unwilling Pakistan that wants $$$ but no accountability and propped up incompetent, selfish Afghan politicians solely due to their pro-American credentials a.k.a Karzai. Without good governance and public trust, the locals don\'t care about US style democracy. As for the taliban, al-qaeda and Pakistan\'s ISI, use drones to wipe them all out. Say sorry and compensate the collateral. The folks only understand the lingo of violence begets violence fortified with religion. Leaving this war unfinished or unresolved, will only embolden them and defer it to a global scale.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 09:59"},{"nm":"Steve Henthorne","rs":"0","ms":"As always I find &quot;Frontline&quot; programs extremely well done. As for the thrust of this particular production it was well off target as a lot of today\'s thoughts are regarding Afghanistan. By all means kinetics does obviously win wars, but non kinetics wins the other side of the COIN - - - “Peace and Stability.” They are meant to be used “Jointly,” in a “comprehensive approach,” with one leading to the other–then leading home. COIN, by itself, is not the answer. Stability Operations  are the other side of the COIN. \n\nIt is literally  impossible for the U.S. Army, the main provider of manpower and expertise to support U.S. national interests, to successfully transition to Phase 4 & 5 Operations [post combat stability operations], because the U.S. Army is not properly trained in conducting Stability Operations, and therefore the operations can not be properly planned, or executed, to make that vital transition. Quite simply, we may see what needs to be done, but we can’t do what needs to be done, because there is now a six year training void in how to effectively use our non-kinetic enablers; mainly Civil-Affairs.\n\nWhether it is Iraq, Afghanistan, or someplace yet unknown, at some point in time the force of arms will have to lift, and there will need to be a solid foundation to build long term stability on. The U.S. Army has not been successful in helping to build those foundations. That is why we will forever be going back to these trouble spots that we have here-to-fore declared victory. That is why we now find ourselves going back to Afghanistan. That is why I was pleased to see that this Frontline highlighted the U.S. Marine Corps. Their Joint Vision 2010 has been a living document, while the Army has remained steadfastly locked into a kinetics first approach.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 08:43"},{"nm":"Jai Rho","rs":"0","ms":"Interesting piece, but lacking in substance re Obama:  Does he have a realistic strategy or justifiable purpose for extending the war?  How will he handle destabilization of Pakistan?  Why isn\'t Pakistan\'s concern about India being discussed openly, since the ISI is using the Taliban to counter Indian interests?  What is Obama\'s policy with India with respect to Pakistan?  How does he justify a blind eye to the heroin trade, at a greater cost to American life than any residual Al Quaeda threat from Afghanistan?","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 08:19"},{"nm":"Dave","rs":"0","ms":"Let\'s get it straight. President Bush did not start this war! Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban who harbored them in Afghanistan who killed over 4000 people in NYC on 9/11 did. They started this. All of this wouldn\'t have happened at all if Clinton would have let us kill Bin Laden in the 90\'s and let us attack the training camps rather than send cruise missiles that did nothing! Barrack Hussein Obama was a senator during the Bush years. He is part of this government that dropped the ball in Afghanistan. No matter who you support, Bush AND Obama let us down in Afghanistan. Bush AND Obama put us in the economic mess. The question now is, what is Obama going to do? I am not impressed thus far. Finally, you do not see General McChrystal say, &quot;this war is not my fault.&quot; He takes responsibility for it now! Forget Bush. THIS IS OBAMA\'s WAR! Great job Frontline! See you in Afghanistan!","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 07:48"},{"nm":"Jeremiah","rs":"0","ms":"wow . . who cares about the title- the point is now Obama needs to pressure Pakistan..and I think he will because he is just that- a great president. . we can\'t be funding the Pakistan military if they are in turning around and giving those weapons to Afgans who are in turn fighting us.. That is just plain stupid and tragic. .if I was there fighting it would really piss me off to know Pakistan weapons are being used to try kill me and at the  same time my government it giving Pakistan money and aid for those weapons. I would be like what the hell. and if I were a marine learning some of the afghan language might be helpful as well. .","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 07:25"},{"nm":"Arthur Martello","rs":"0","ms":"I would like to know what is considered winning or losing? This war is endless unless someone says &quot;enough&quot;. I  am sick of these generals who are nothing more than little boys playing war, only they play for real. We have to stop this ridiculous idea that we are the world\'s watchdog. It is absurd to think that we are the only one\'s who can have nuclear weapons, especially when we have used them against others. This so called &quot;war&quot; is against an unseen enemy. We have to let this country and these people fend for themselves like many countries have done in the past.  As Michael Moore noted...&quot;The Taliban is another matter. That is a problem for the people of Afghanistan to resolve -- just as we did in 1776, the French did in 1789, the Cubans did in 1959, the Nicaraguans did in 1979 and the people of East Berlin did in 1989. One thing is certain through all revolutions by people who wish to be free -- they ultimately have to bring about that freedom themselves. Others can be supportive, but freedom can not be delivered from the front seat of someone else\'s Humvee&quot;.\n \n","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 07:05"},{"nm":"Thomas Patrick Tuohy","rs":"0","ms":"Who is this war making money for?","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 06:43"},{"nm":"Cara Bissell","rs":"0","ms":"&quot;Its the&quot; Peace Corps Model ... \nBring our troops home.  Engage in helping ecconomically without the military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us of in the early 1960s!  If governments do not invite us, we shouldn\'t be there to interfere.  Give more power to the United Nations to upgrade its standing.  The League of Nations became the United Nations.  The United Nations needs to evolve into an organization all countries in our &quot;Global Village&quot; belong to!\n\nThis Front Line coverage begins to show the situation superficially but does not take it to the next step, evaluation and projection.  &quot;We the people&quot; in our Republic need to decide and MAKE Congress follow OUR Will!  Most of the Republican elected officials up for reelection will hopefully be voted out this next time around unless they can show there willingness to listen AND FOLLOW their constituents!","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 06:37"},{"nm":"Not a fan of Politicians","rs":"0","ms":"I think the title &quot;Obama\'s War&quot; is very appropriate.  Afghanistan was the war that Bush ignored while he concentrated on Iraq. Obama campaigned that we should be in Afghanistan, not Iraq.  Now he must act on his campaign rhetoric or it would seem that he only said it to appear strong on national defense.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 05:33"},{"nm":"jose deleon","rs":"0","ms":"i watched this video on obama\'s war twice and still im throughly confused and frustrated. we as nation have our own \nnational  problems, and our people neeed  help, our infrastructure needs rebuilding, our economy is in terrible fiscal\ncondition, our schools our in poor shape, kids are killing themselves in chicago, and many other urban areas of our nation and our soldiers, god bless them , are being put in harms way for a afgan govt that cant even have honest elections....come on man....this part of the world is  and has always been a ceasepool of heroin, and weed growing\ndrug dealers, who finance their terriost actions with this money!!!!!!we should not send our troops until this so ccalled war is thought out by our govt, afgan officials and its peolple, and the leaders of pakistan.....boy what a mess!!!!!!!!!","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 04:47"},{"nm":"Nate","rs":"0","ms":"To all those commenting about why this is called &quot;Obama\'s War&quot; ... we have now passed the point where half of the troops in Afghanistan were sent by Obama.  By the end of the year, close to two thirds of the troops will have been allocated by Obama decisions, assuming he accepts the current proposal for 40k more (which seems very likely).\n\nSo, it\'s his war.  Kudos to PBS for pointing that out.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 04:38"},{"nm":"Jim","rs":"0","ms":"I found the program interesting though lacking in many important areas. The use of different countries Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) Teams would have been an interesting piece. There really is a winnable war here, and I find it disheartening that we cannot find the morale courage among other requirements to get this job done. The main countries at the heart of this conflict, America, Britain and Canada once shared the incredible load of defeating Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, surely we can bear down and work together to complete this task? We are not talking about the overpowering and occupation of Afghanistan, simply giving the breathing room and tools for the Afghans themselves. Since many accuse us of already meddling in the affairs of Afghanistan, could we not at least ensure it has a stable and properly elected government? The Afghan need more than just a military force hunting down  the Taliban and Al Qaeda, they need the infrastructure they were promised. I cannot help but think that many want this war to fail as it was started by the former president. Well the surge in Iraq worked, not brilliantly, but it did the job that was needed. It is not rocket science to see the same is needed in Afghanistan, the troops there clear one area and move on, only to have the Taliban move in when safe to do so. And to those nay sayers who don’t think we can win against the Taliban, we have, most firefights are quickly won by our troops, why do you think they have resorted to IEDs? As a former soldier and one whom received constant emails and letters from my old comrades who are serving over there, I can compare what they are doing and seeing to what the media reports. And the two definitely differ. As a follow up, I notice there are a few comments from Canadians, especially one from Annie who talks about how Canada’s Prime Minister ‘saddled up with Bush’. Does she realize Canada has gone through two Prime Ministers since then? And the Canadian troops she talks of are fairly unique, besides being incredible battlefield soldiers, they carry on a variety of humanitarian mission, lacking only the money and support from home. They are also an excellent measurement of the war, they are all volunteers and can always find an ‘out ‘to avoid deployment.\nThey are truly volunteers several times over and all I know believe deeply in the mission. Which I thing sums up my thoughts. Good luck President Obama, please let the Afghans have a chance at fixing this!\n","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 04:30"},{"nm":"allen_osuno","rs":"0","ms":"It was obvious from watching this program that we Americans are playing a fool\'s game here. We are going after the wrong target. We should be invading and pacifying Pakistan. That is the source of the trouble in Afthanistan. The militants want to keep re-infesting Afghanistan and we can be there for centuries and never win with our \'finger in the dike&quot; strategy. It is a fool\'s errand as long as we allow the Pakistani government to be duplicitous and all the breeding ground of the insurgency to fester in Pakistan. Obama is throwing good money after bad and sacrificing for nothing the lives of our troops. It is ridiculous. Our troops go into a village speaking English and using interpreters that don\'t even speak the local dialect. They try to enlist the help of the villagers who are under threat from the Taliban that if they talk to our soldiers or cooperate, they will kill the villagers or beat them. Our troops can\'t even control an area or make is safe, because the Taliban can set traps at will. Why would villagers cooperate with foreign troops who come in, don\'t speak the language, can\'t even prevent attacks from the Taliban in open daylight? How do we expect to \'win over the people\' with a joke of a strategy like the one we have? We don\'t cure the problem at the root in Pakistan (probably can\'t without nuking Pakistan), we have a tin ear to the needs of the local villagers, don\'t speak their language and put them at risk when our soldiers come into an area. This strategy is folly. It can\'t and won\'t work. We need to get out, let the Afghan Taliban do what it wants and we need to recenter our focus on cleaning up Pakistan instead of letting the Pakistani\'s take our money and secretly feed their own militants through their ISI security forces. What a JOKE! Obama, GET OUT of Afghanistan, NOW!","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 03:48"},{"nm":"Nate","rs":"0","ms":"This war is a shining example of the viral stupidity of the American people.  Afghanistan isn\'t even civilized, and we want to build a modern democracy out of the dirt?  The military men interviewed, to a man, are all completely delusional regarding their possibilities for success.  From a psychological standpoint, it\'s hard to blame them ... their job is surely awful, and without a false sense of hope, they probably couldn\'t make it through their days.  But, those of us with brains not super-saturated with adrenaline should be able to see through this nonsense.\n\nSo-called liberals and even independents who voted for Obama, with the assumption that he represented a real change from George W. Bush, need to take a hard look at their ability to think clearly.  This man is continuing Bush\'s worst policies (as he said he would during the campaign), and even expanding on his poorest choices.  If you like living in a world where all important decisions are made by bankers and 4-star generals, then Obama truly has been a change to believe in.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 03:39"},{"nm":"hsquared71@cox.net","rs":"0","ms":"This is a losing war. It is not working and the marines and others need to get out. It will never work not in 30 years.","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 03:38"},{"nm":"Dok","rs":"0","ms":"In 1981, we were doing the same thing. Developing scemes in which to use the afgany\'s against the Russians, developed by the Reagan/Carter admins, seems we forgot to close that door. We operated via the same corridors but still we haven\'t learned much other then to dump the pakistanies and afganys. I met alot of the grandfathers who\'s sons only knew how we deserted them. We promised alot during the fight with the russians and again we didnt honor our promises. we let them down. Now u want to MAKE them believe we will honor our word again. Some body needs to remember 1976 thru 1985 we were on the ground trying to do the best, but the people that are now fighting are the seeds sown by our past. go ask the the sec defense during those days and findout what happend and who signed checks to ladin funny no one remembers him back then. funny they are still using tuck tucks to ferry weapons in..... Nice frontline, semper fi","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 02:40"},{"nm":"Jeff Sharpless","rs":"0","ms":"The war in Afghanistan is complex and the Frontline Documentary did an excellent job putting the difficulties and ambiguities in the forefront of the discussion. ","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 02:37"},{"nm":"New  American","rs":"0","ms":"This war is a clash of cultures.  \n\nI watched the frustrated young soldier talking to the elderly afghan villagers.   \nWhat Americans view as straight-talk, decisiveness and strength would be viewed as \ninsulting cockiness in a culture that values respect and deference to elders.  I salute\nthe young soldier - he is doing his job under difficult circumstances but I could\nsense that even he knew he was out of place. \n\n\n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n","pt":"Oct 14, 2009 01:54"},{"nm":"CB","rs":"0","ms":"Thank you for this nearly complete report. Having spent a year in Afghanistan with our Soldiers, I applaud you for asking nearly all the right questions. However, one thing I\'ve never understood is why reporters shy away from the religious aspect of the Taliban. The Taliban offer not only shadow government but religious instruction. Though the teaching is extreme, there doesn\'t seem to be many alternatives coming from Kabul.  The Taliban lay claim to two things than run thicker than any policy or presence; faith and family. Let\'s support the people in these two areas and see if good enough governance follows.","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 23:22"},{"nm":"Brad I","rs":"0","ms":"Thank you PBS, you come through when the rest of the media have found it much more profitable to dedicate their air time to talking heads who pontificate about things they know little about instead of giving detailed reports about what is happening there.\n\nTo those who feel offended by the title, I believe it\'s obvious that &quot;Obama\'s War&quot; is intended to highlight the fact that it is now up to President Obama to decide what to do next; we all know that he inherited the war. In fact, most all of us supported it after 9/11.","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 22:58"},{"nm":"thomas colville ","rs":"0","ms":"I would be interested to know if the recent decision by Pakastian to bomb South Wazierstian (sp?) marks a dramatic shift against the Taliban.   Also, if it does, and was the result of the recent bombings in Pakastian how does on explain the actions of the Taliban in instigating Pakastain into taking this action when the Taliban are characterized in this Frontline program as being so politically savy?","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 22:52"},{"nm":"rho","rs":"0","ms":"Wow. Best piece of hard journalism I\'ve seen in a long time. I walked away with some answers, but mostly with more questions. Many thanks to the production team for your hard work. A follow-up, please!\n\nWhat really stood out to me was the complexity faced by Afghans, soldiers and the governments that defy simple sloganeering, even if they are defined by the same. It also altered my mental picture of the country. There are parts of Afghanistan and its people that are steeped in simple beauty that sometimes gets lost in all of the chatter.\n\nBrilliant work, folks. More like this, please!","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 22:39"},{"nm":"Annie Game","rs":"0","ms":"The Taliban are entrenched and they are not going anywhere. Ask the Russians. We need to read history and learn...this will never work. As a Canadian I feel calling it Obama\'s war is misleading. As many have commented it belongs to everyone involved and Obama is just walking in on the accident (unlike our Prime Minister who saddled up our troops with Bush much t the dismay of the majority of Canadians). Bring all these troops home\>","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 22:31"},{"nm":"Rich Scillia","rs":"0","ms":"I\'ve had the following questions since Gen. McChyrstals latest report:\nThe current revision of the Army Field Manual states that, as a rule of thumb, one soldier is required for every 50 civilians in order to properly apply the population-centric COIN doctrine.  That comes to about 640,000 troops, as Nagle mentioned in the program.  Clearly that is not possible.\nWhy does the General think that the addition of 40,000 troops will enable him to apply the COIN doctrine?  What will this accomplish?  How can this addition not be classified as a &quot;half measure&quot;, as some have warned would be the worst course of action?  This is nowhere near the required number.  Is it time to admit that Bush gave this one to the enemy for the sake of the foolish, and tragically unnecessary invasion of Iraq?\nI hope Bush lives to a ripe old age so he can see how history will really judge him.  An abject failure.  An immoral, immature glory seeking rich boy who willingly threw away the lives of 4300 Americans and several thousand Iraqi civilians just so he can be a &quot;War President&quot;.  He is a criminal.","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 22:28"},{"nm":"Isaac","rs":"0","ms":"It\'s called &quot;Obama\'s War&quot; because like it or not this is what he\'s inherited. The title doesn\'t imply his instigation, rather his undeniable responsibility. I think the intention of the title may have been to convey the frank realism that the situation calls for.","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 22:25"},{"nm":"Amy","rs":"0","ms":"My son is serving in Echo 2/8 from this video.  It was so good to see him, as I have not seen him in 7 months.  Thank you PBS for putting this together.  I have mixed feelings about this..I feel like we should either go and finish this thing with massive troops, or just get out.,,but to leave these boys and girls there under staffed and then tasking them with this touchy feely type of job is nowhere.  They are facing death daily, while all the politicians &quot;think about strategy&quot;.  I am frustrated.","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 22:23"},{"nm":"Derek","rs":"0","ms":"I would like to explore the idea of setting up more educational facilities in order to both establish a strong relation with the people of Afghanistan (promote peace) and increase education levels so they do not need to resort to drug trafficking.  The trick would be to make it seem as though the Afghan government were supporting and involved with the creation of this movement.  Then if the Taliban were to try to interfere with this movement the people especially the parents who\'s children can no longer get education would be moved to not support the extremists out of anger and we all know that anger overcomes fear any day.  Meanwhile the children would receive education and would see Americans as promoters of peace instead of promoting war for future generations because what good is winning the war when the people hate you.","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 22:18"},{"nm":"peacesojourner","rs":"0","ms":"Thank you for bringing the war zone into our living rooms so that we can see what it is actually like in Afghanistan.I feel like the Military Troops are sent over there and the average US citizen doesn\'t really have a clue about what they are actually doing there.  I had studied about this part of the world for some time and I was able to understand more because of the documentary but I feel that the title of your production was misleading. President Obama did not start this war and it is not easy for him right now to withdraw immediately. There is no doubt that the Bush administration is responsible for both the Iraq and Afghanistan intervention by declaring war. I am a pacifist and a war tax resister, but even I can see that it is unfair to name your piece &quot;Obama\'s War\'  - Is there a way that you can rename it - please?","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 22:16"},{"nm":"shayna","rs":"0","ms":"There is no reason for America to continue on in Afghanistan.  If we are trying to get Ben still, it is not worth it.  If we are defending the Afghanistan people, it is not worth it.  In the Name of Lord Jesus Christ, all our troops come home from Afghanistan safely.  God bless all of America\'s troops in Afghanistan richly and fully in the Name of Lord Jesus Christ.  Awake America!!!, Awake!!!","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 22:09"},{"nm":"Mark C.","rs":"0","ms":"I\'ve always found important information and respected the producer\'s perspective on Frontline episodes, but I agree with others who have posted here. THIS IS NOT OBAMA\'S WAR! He inherited this mess from Bush. For lack of a better analogy, it\'s like you rent a boat that had been poked full of holes by the previous renters and you get blamed for it, and have to deal with it. Come on, folks, you really should have chosen a better title for this piece. No matter how the situation evolves in Afghanistan, it will be a big ball and chain to the Obama administration. I wish there could be a positive outcome, but the odds are not in his or our favor-","pt":"Oct 13, 2009 21:59"},{"nm":"Tom Gerosolina","rs":"0","ms":"This is a replay of Viet Nam, different place, different people, same situation.\n\nWhat they don\'t realize we are going to loose.\n\nWe the people and soliders are going to loose, but the Military Industral Complex will continue to make Money.\n\nMoney is what it is all about. ","pt":"Oct 12, 2009 18:14"},{"nm":"Hanlon S.","rs":"0","ms":"If you found this Frontline good(or bad), you might find a 6 part documentary called &quot;Rethink Afghanistan&quot; very interesting.  You can view it on your computer just as you viewed this one. It\'s getting international acclaim. It enlightened me as to what is REALLY going on over there. Check it out and tell what you think.\n\n\<a href=&quot;http://rethinkafghanistan.com/&quot;\>http://rethinkafghanistan.com/\<\/a\>","pt":"Oct 12, 2009 17:43"},{"nm":"Unknown","rs":"0","ms":"As a Marine who is about to enter that exact same spot.  I not scared because this is what we signed up for, anyone would understand if they were in my shoes.","pt":"Oct 12, 2009 16:50"},{"nm":"Floyd A.","rs":"0","ms":"I do not like the title: Obama\'s War.  Obama did not initiate this war.  The Bush white house did not put enough boots on the ground to do the job in Afghanistan.  Sure, the Taliban left.  Then they came pouring back into Afghanistan when they saw that the US was not serious about the real war on terror.  \n\nBush made the decision to turn the war in Afghanistan into an international parade ground war.  Bush made several trips to Europe to beg for more troops from NATO. He steafastly refused to send enough US troops to Afghanistan to get the job done. \n\nBush mad another big blunder in 2004 when his administration allowed Karzai to adopt de facto sharia law.   \n\n ","pt":"Oct 12, 2009 16:37"},{"nm":"Steve L","rs":"0","ms":"Extremely well made report on the war. I can see how that soldier would get so frustrated with his translator, but that seemed to be the biggest problem. He should have told them to defy or ignore the taliban not fight them im sure they would have reacted with sinicism still but telling them to fight is like a bad joke. If I was the farmer i would have had the same reaction. In any case im not blaming the soldier because im sure id be frustrated and do the same thing. It\'s just a shame that communication is so difficult.\n\nI only have one problem.. Why is this called Obama\'s War? I  guess its because of the policy change, but I think its a very stupid title considering this war started before he was even a senator... He just inherited the mess. If I hear one more idiot blame him for it im going to kill them.","pt":"Oct 12, 2009 00:45"},{"nm":"Victor F.","rs":"0","ms":"This is some of the most intense footage Frontline has produced, but this is also what good journalism is about: capturing an accurate picture of what really is going on in the world from as many angles as possible.  Corporate media news has severely damaged the ideals of unbiased opinion and objective reporting, turning current events into a relentless argument designed primarily to boost ratings and increase ad revenue, rather than to inform and educate the people.  I\'m sure if Fox News made every commentator express themselves with sock puppets instead of themselves, people would see the difference between news and journalism much more clearly.","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 23:56"},{"nm":"T. Kiyoshi Nagano","rs":"0","ms":"If all they can do is change the tone of the discussion, let\'s hope G W Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld see this program and what their policies have created...All time highs in Opium production, a well financed Al Qaeda and an unstable &quot;nuclear&quot; Pakistan. \n\nWhat we need is language schools, like we had during WW II for Military Intelligence (MIS). Understanding and communication is the key.","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 22:05"},{"nm":"Rick","rs":"0","ms":"&quot;Obama\'s War&quot;?\nGood God, this war has been going on for 5 years, he has been president for 9 months. How can this be his war? &quot;The Forgotten War&quot; would have been a an honest title.\n\nNO MORE DONATIONS TO PBS FROM ME","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 21:03"},{"nm":"Clark","rs":"0","ms":"&quot;The pioneers of a warless world are the young men (and women) who refuse military service.&quot;\n- Albert Einstein","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 19:11"},{"nm":"Clark","rs":"0","ms":"If these men and women were fighting for what they think they are fighting for, this wouldn\'t be so tragic.\nWars are for profit.  They have NOTHING to do with the propaganda bullshit that the neo-fascist u.s. govt. claims.\nThey are fighting for EXXON, Wall Street and Lockheed.","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 18:47"},{"nm":"Vicki A.","rs":"0","ms":"As the mother of a 2/8 Echo Marine, I am so very proud of every one of these Marines and Corpmen and am supportive 110% of our troops. These men are doing a job based on what their commanders are giving them the orders to do. Their Commander-in-Chief at the moment is the President of the United States, who just happens to be Barack Obama, thus &quot;Obama\'s War,&quot; so what\'s the big question here about the title of this piece? When my son\'s unit deployed over the summer and this offensive began in early July, it was at the order of the current Commander-in-Chief. \n\nAside from that, every American who can\'t show respect for what these young men do day in and day out for months-long deployments in conditions even the poorest here in America aren\'t forced to put up with, all while serving their country as U.S. Marines, need to catch the next boat out of here. I\'m sorry, but I\'m sick and tired of listening to the whining and moaning about it all while I watch programs like this that show the very real risks my 19 year-old, and others like him, takes every day of his young life when he could be sitting around his room playing video games making absolutely NO difference in the world like a lot of &quot;losers&quot; in this country right now. My son is a HERO to me!!! Since the day he left to become a Marine, I knew he believed in something bigger than himself and wanted to leave an imprint on the world! Well, that\'s what the Marines of 2/8 Echo Co. have and are doing in this war. LCpl Sharp DID NOT die for nothing, regardless of what any of you may think. His friends and fellow Marines fought harder and stronger because of his death at the hands of the Taliban and something tells me they will do all they can to make sure their friend\'s death is NEVER for NOTHING! \nI\'m so glad PBS has produced this documentary...I hope every American will view it and realize the value of those who actually &quot;volunteer&quot; for the fighting. You certainly don\'t see the politicians and bureaucrats on the frontlines, do you?","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 18:35"},{"nm":"Chris Gordon","rs":"0","ms":"The program will be excellent as usual. \n\nI just must complain about your choice of titles. No matter how you try to parse it in the story, you are blaming this war on Pres. Obama, who inherited this mess from the Bushies, who managed to (in the old WW II slogan) FUBAR it, beyond all  belief. (FUBAR, F#$ked up beyond all reason, reality, reproach, etc.)\n\nA more simple title could have been &quot;Obama\'s INHERITED war&quot;. \n\nChristopher Gordon\nBrewster, MA ","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 18:26"},{"nm":"J. Eent","rs":"0","ms":"I am a liberal, but I am pleading with liberals and all my fellow citizens: please, America:  have patience in Afghanistan.  It took Bush 8 years to screw the war up this badly.  Give Barack a few years to fix it.\n\nWe do need to protect the Afghan people from the Taliban thugs, but we also cannot hold back our air power, which has been so effective at eviscerating the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan.  Both can be done by pulling ISAF troops back to defend the 20 percent of Afghanistan that is populated, declaring the largely unpopulated hinterland to be fair game for Predators and other air assets, and unleash them to blast those jerks day and night.\n\n&quot;Advance to contact&quot;, as shown in this documentary should be not be asked of good Marines like Echo Company, and their fellow troops in NATO and the ANA.  We now have drones for that.  Put the Taliban back in our crosshairs, instead of the reverse.   Then expand the protected zones gradually, as we build our forces, including the ANA, and ravage the thugs.\n\nThis is indeed the Good War.  Pulling out would only allow terrorists to resume operating from Afghanistan, and destabilize the shaky new democracy in Pakistan.\n\nDamn Bush for falling asleep at the wheel, as always, and giving the Taliban 8 years to regroup.  But give Barack as much time as he needs to fix Bush\'s mess.  Otherwise, we will be getting Pakistan\'s nukes some day, delivered to our doorstep.","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 18:06"},{"nm":"Jon Avildsen","rs":"0","ms":"I\'m not trying to be cheeky, but I think that the U.S. troops positioned themselves in a school near the market to use the locals as human shields. They probably think that the Taliban won\'t attack them if they are surrounded by locals.","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 14:46"},{"nm":"Arsn Azizyan","rs":"0","ms":"The challenges are daunting to be sure... 135*F temperatures are just unreal, I didn\'t even know there was a place on this planet that got that hot. But in the end, it\'s really all about language, isn\'t it? How can they get closer to the population if they can\'t even get intelligible directions? This definitely calls for a doubled and tripled effort in linguistic training.","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 13:12"},{"nm":"I.S","rs":"0","ms":"\nIt is a wonderful documentary and the true picutre of the situation on ground. \n\nAs an Afghan I get annoyed by the fact that the interpreter doesn\'t speak the local langauage but he is still accopanying the marines on the mission. Unless such minor issues get sorted it is seems impossible to gain public trust. ","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 10:44"},{"nm":"El Zorba","rs":"0","ms":"What a web of lies!  The Good Guys of America are there to \'save the peoples\'.  B.S. x 1,000,000....  American interests abroad at it\'s worst once again.  I am a patriot not a nationalist.  This is why I am so critical.","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 10:16"},{"nm":"Jon","rs":"0","ms":"Thank you PBS for putting together this series!  This is not a simple question of democracy, human rights, or terrorism.  Anything that I could write in a paragraph would be an oversimplification.  Only through hours of analysis can one even begin to scratch the surface.  Keep in mind that this program is bringing the best of the best (Exum, Nagl, McChrystal) to the table... We would all be wise to listen to what they have to say.","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 03:36"},{"nm":"Winston Smith","rs":"0","ms":"It\'s a lose lose situation for them.  They either have to deal with the CIA sponsored terrorists or the DOD sponsored terrorists.","pt":"Oct 11, 2009 01:21"},{"nm":"tom","rs":"0","ms":"Exum, McChrystal and Nagl.\n\nSpew the party line.\n\nI am embarrassed at Frontline for even putting this crap on the air. I now see WGBH has gone into the &quot;Cable News Cocoon&quot; led by Rupert. Sad, but true. Even the video piece was so amateur, it was a joke. Love the narrator\'s modulated voice, but couldn\'t forget how he did Stanley Karnow\'s series on Vietnam. Maybe Frontline should rerun that one.\n\nExum is too young to have been in the Vietnam era, and sounds like he is still in the military, to serve out his hitch. Disgusting. Even the Pentagon couldn\'t have hand-picked a better shill. But then wait, he wants some bucks too. Writing a book, or a dissertation, or something to promote his career.\n\nSaddest thing I have seen. I am calling Scott Ritter, who at least addresses the real issues. I am really disgusted with Frontline.\n\nMcChrystal is on stage, like he wants a 5th star.\nNagl is a plant, from the Pentagon, I am sure. Light Colonel\'s usually are rebels, or failures, or have awakened one morning and said, why am I here, and what else can I do for a living?\n\nNone of these guys, whose paychecks depend on the wars they promote, ever answered any of the questions directly. They would have been destroyed on cross-examination. There was never a comment about, why are we here, and how much longer should we stay.\n\nNo comment about the energy resources north of Afghanistan, which is why we are there anyway. Pipelineistan is the word. Go read Juan Cole or Pepe Escobar. They tell the truth.\n\nI reread what I just wrote, and am about to puke, for you guys to have put this program on.\n\nJust like lobbyists. Further your cause, and reality and discourse be damnded.\n\nThe video was so harmless, and my kids use those words all the time, no blood, no writhing, so tame, so why show it? Filmed in Arizona, I think.\n\nI don\'t have any influence, or money, but I will be sending Frontline an objection, and a condemnation about showing this spew.\n\nNone of the 3 guys said that maybe we should begin to pack up and go home, slowly and gradually, to let these people of the Pashtun ethnic group, go back to the Old Testament times, and have peace in their villages once again.\n\nPutin is laughing his ass off.","pt":"Oct 10, 2009 22:02"},{"nm":"Ron","rs":"0","ms":"Why is the title &quot;Obama\'s War&quot;? I thought he inherited this fiasco from Bush!","pt":"Oct 10, 2009 21:48"},{"nm":"Damian","rs":"0","ms":"My company replaces echo 2/8 very soon. They deserve a lot of respect. ","pt":"Oct 10, 2009 20:54"},{"nm":"john H","rs":"0","ms":"Good job troops and frontline","pt":"Oct 10, 2009 20:10"},{"nm":"Julie","rs":"0","ms":"I forgot to include in my comment from early this morning...the title is misleading...the title should be: &quot;The War Obama Inherited&quot;\n\nAnd...as I wrote earlier...everyone should watch &quot;Bad Voodoo\'s War&quot; before watching this on Tuesday. If you watch, keep in mind it only aired 18 mos. ago.\n\nThen ask yourself...who sent us to Iraq and Afghanistan to begin with? The same individual who said as he left office...&quot;it\'s his problem now&quot;.\n","pt":"Oct 10, 2009 16:07"},{"nm":"dana donna","rs":"0","ms":"i really think this is great and people should defineatly have the right to learn about this. thank youh pbs!","pt":"Oct 10, 2009 14:40"},{"nm":"Chicago","rs":"0","ms":"I thought we were searching out Al-Qaeda in the first place.  Remember 9-11?  This is BUSH\'s WAR  and NOT Obama\'s.  The title is BS.  Obama did say that he would switch focus to Afganistan, but to seek out the killers of 9-11.  Obama inherited this BS just like the Wall Street BS.  I pray he pulls out and tells the generals and majors .... Ah ha.","pt":"Oct 10, 2009 12:40"},{"nm":"Julie","rs":"0","ms":"Thank you FRONTLINE for once again defining &quot;reality&quot; -- in every sense of the word.\n\nIt reminds me so much of &quot;Bad Voodoo\'s War&quot; and how the previous administration chose to put us in Iraq and Afghanistan at the same time. The focus has been one big blur for 8+ years.\n\nEveryone should watch &quot;Bad Voodoo\'s War&quot; (from a mere 18 mos. ago) as a precursor to the Tuesday Oct. 13 airing. How soon we forget.\n\n\<a href=&quot;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/badvoodoo/&quot;\>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/badvoodoo/\<\/a\>","pt":"Oct 10, 2009 07:37"},{"nm":"Jon","rs":"0","ms":"Thank you PBS for putting together this series!  This is not a simple question of democracy, human rights, or terrorism.  Anything that I could write in a paragraph would be an oversimplification.  Only through hours of analysis can one even begin to scratch the surface.  Keep in mind that this program is bringing the best of the best (Exum, Nagl, McChrystal) to the table... We would all be wise to listen to what they have to say.","pt":"Oct  9, 2009 18:53"},{"nm":"Peter ","rs":"0","ms":"Hey , this man has a War with his name on it, and he just wins the Nobel Peace Prize! The World has gone totally mad.","pt":"Oct  9, 2009 18:37"},{"nm":"michael fellion","rs":"0","ms":"I am still amassed by what people don\'t learn from history.  While Afghans civil war is really none of our business we have won many guerrilla wars both here and abroad.  For example, ask any Indian tribe whether they won their guerrilla war against American expansion.  Another example, ask the Philippine people whether we won the guerrilla war in the Philippines after we got the place from the Spanish.  Another example, we put down the civil war in the Balkans after everybody else did nothing except tsk tsk.  We could go on and on but the war in Afghanistan is winnable, it is not a quagmire.  Vietnam was not a quagmire.  We lost Vietnam because we didn\'t take steps to make it winnable.  Sending troops without changing our methods of operation in Afghanistan will make the war a quadmire, eventually the people will get tired of it and we will go home just like in Vietnam.  The US military officers don\'t care about winning they just want brownie points for that promotion or they get kicked out.  The brass don\'t care how many of our boys are killed as long as they advance in rank and prestige.  If you don\'t believe me just read any book about war by any general, read about how they became a general.  Remember Ike?  He shot the WWI bonus vet protestors in Washington to keep his job. It is up to the civilian leadership just like in Korea or WWII or Lincoln in the civil war to provide a strategic plan to win the conflict.  Remember in Korea General MacArthur wanted to nuc the Chinese, so he would not &quot;lose&quot; after making a serious error in planning. President Truman said your fired and got another general to run things.  Our President needs to decide what he wants as an outcome, than find a general to do it.   Nothing more, nothing less.   ","pt":"Oct  9, 2009 13:30"},{"nm":"AWB","rs":"0","ms":"This is not Obama\'s War -- this is BUSH\'S ILLEGAL OPTIONAL WAR BASED ON LIES and I pray that President Obama promptly puts an end to it.\n\nRemember George Bush\'s Mantra:  MONEY TRUMPS PEACE.","pt":"Oct  9, 2009 13:09"},{"nm":"FGDT","rs":"0","ms":"Obama\'s Inheritance from Bush\'s legacy.\nAppears they really need interpreters translators.\nThe soldiers are already stressed from so many tours so there already naturally stressed and then have them try and understand the Afgans language , you can see/hear the stress in the soldiers voices. \nBush left this bag of crap for Obama to clean up because the oil contracts in Iraq were more important at the time.\nThen add the GOP trying to bring Obama down at any cost,even the lives of many and we have a bigger mess.","pt":"Oct  9, 2009 12:56"},{"nm":"Virginia","rs":"0","ms":"as usual, a professional and truthful view on world events. i can\'t help thinking that this whole thing could have been completely avoided, especially since we\'re now the 8th year of this conflict, if bush had remained true to the vision of ridding afghanistan of the taliban when the possibility was realistic, ie 2001-2002. due to his administration\'s imperialistic view of the world and because of the influence cheney, rumsfeld and wolfowitz held over bush, iraq became the primary military target and the most US\'s recent illegal war began. \n\nafghanistan is one of the world\'s most &quot;backward&quot; countries and the reallocation of US troops in 2002-2003 pretty much guaranteed failure. the resurgence of the taliban and the fact that bin laden is still free to murder innocent civilians are key indicators of its abject failure. please remember that supporting the armed forces can be done without supporting the policies that send into harm\'s way. \n\nas a canadian, our troops have been fighting in afghanistan since the beginning in the southern areas where the so-called insurgency remains strong. canadian public opinion that this war is unwinnable (see british and soviet history books) is steadily growing and we anticipate a canadian withdrawal from the active theatres in the coming years. \n\nafghanistan has a unique perspective on outsiders; even sworn enemies will join forces to fend them off before returning to their personal grudges. it is indeed a quagmire; a much greater one than vietnam presented  in the 60s and 70s and one from which the US, or any of the coalition forces, will not emerge as victors. i wish i had a better answer than to say: get out and leave them be, especially given what the taliban is capable of doing with the people they say they represent. i do not. it saddens me greatly that so many lives are lost - daily on all sides - in that tortured country. i admire all those who strive for success in these missions, but i think that the law of diminishing returns applies here. the brain trusts need to seriously re-think their approach and come up with something that at least has the chance of success in the next decade. i wish them luck. ","pt":"Oct  9, 2009 10:45"},{"nm":"Luther","rs":"0","ms":"Wow. I got censored. Is this another hold over of the Bush Administration? Lose freedoms in order to gain freedoms? Once a war is faught, the war is lost. The best generals are those who win without fighting. The war is about resources and to gain the is by expanding US presence in the Middle East. President Obama did inheret this illogical mess that Bush and his corporate Enron buddies created. N. Korea has weapons of mass destruction. I didn\'t see Bush running in there to bomb them. What was won in Iraq? If this is about Bin Laden, why did the U.S. not invade Saudi Arabia. This is where his family is. Do you all not recall that his family was living in Florida and was flown out of the United States after the 9/11 attack. The CIA wanted to detain them but, the Bush Administration said no. Wake up America and take back your government.","pt":"Oct  9, 2009 08:37"},{"nm":"Chuma Lewis","rs":"0","ms":"These young men desire the best our government has to offer in support and resources.  The conventional mission these Soldiers and Marines are tasked with has changed from combat offensive, to Force Protection.  The problem is you are asking a highly trained and aggressive shooter to tone down his kill or be killed instincts and think like a cop who is there to protect and serve the people.  These men have seen tours in Iraq and Afghanistan that were combat oriented and still carry that mentality into this new ideology of winning the hearts and minds of the people.  Soldiers and Marines are supposed to be flexible and adaptable to changing situations, but this War needs clear direction and clear understanding of the commanders intent.  I don\'t believe President Obama has given this direction to his field commanders.","pt":"Oct  9, 2009 01:34"},{"nm":"Kyle","rs":"0","ms":"Hey that was very nice to watch. It opens our eyes to what my brothers are going through. I am in ROTC right now and watching this just makes me even more proud to be part of this strong brotherhood. As far as the war is concerned I personally dont aggree with it and think we should just pull out and let them kill eachother but that is just me.","pt":"Oct  9, 2009 01:31"},{"nm":"Rhonda M.","rs":"0","ms":"It was hard to watch.  I seen it only about 10 days before my son is to deploy to that very situation in Afghanistan.  He is part of the Weapons Company of B 2/2.  But, much easier for me to see the reality than imagine the unknown.  As for the comments so far, thank you to those who support our troops, whether you support the war or not and for those who do not support our troops, remember, you get to freely express your opinion here because of what our past, present and hopefully, future soldiers have done, did and will do.  Please pray that Kevin and all his Marine brothers come home safe. Semper Fi.   ","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 23:19"},{"nm":"Military Wife","rs":"0","ms":"To all of you that discussed how young and inexperienced these soldiers are....I don\'t see you getting up and volunteering any time soon. And for those of you that are critizing every move that the soldiers are making...you are not there.  You do not have any idea what kind of situation these soldiers are in.  Remember folks, even though this video portrayed many things, there is also a lot that goes on that you are not able to see or are aware of.  That is the reality of television.  Unless you have personally been there and stood along side these individuals, don\'t critique the soldiers themselves.\n\nAnother user wrote, &quot; First, sit down and talk with them, rather than standing up and direct your conversion in a more polite manner.&quot;  please... this war is not like the others we have fought.  The taliban does not follow the &quot;rules of engagement.&quot;  Women and children are suicide bombers.  You tell me who amongst these people to trust immediately.  \n\nJust to clarify, I am not for the war, but we have to understand what type of war this is and support our soldiers that are out there dying for our country.  \n\nI\'m sorry, I could not finish reading all of the comments because some of them made me ill.  You may not support Obama or the war which is your choice.  But, give some respect to those who are out there.  (My husband amongst them.)  I am extremely proud!   ","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 22:10"},{"nm":"jacqueline","rs":"0","ms":"PBS and NPR are so far to the left, they haven\'t done a story or a video that wasn\'t edited to reflect their Michael Moore, Nancy pelosi therys. I would no more believe them than I would believe in fairy tales","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 21:31"},{"nm":"mattdogg","rs":"0","ms":"Well it is obama\'s war now..he wanted to be president of the united states..he knew what he was getting himself into.","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 20:48"},{"nm":"JimBob","rs":"0","ms":"&quot;There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.&quot; (from Ernest) When a soldier returns home after war, he takes his personal weapons and locks them away.  He rarely speaks of being in close combat with the enemy, day after day, night after night, unless it is with other veterans with whom he served.  Some become firemen and others policmen, all in an unknowing effort to regain that adrenalin rush, but they never quite attain it.  There is nothing like the hunting of armed men!  And, if the Angels are with him, and he makes it home in one piece, he never cares for anything else thereafter!  (Except, maybe, watching this frontline special!)       ","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 17:29"},{"nm":"Jamie","rs":"0","ms":"The most important thing for me, after watching this, is bringing our troops home.  These Marines are so young and have a lot of heart.  I am only 27 and my boyfriend is in the Navy. Although he is not involved in the war, I don\'t know what I would do if he got sent.  I feel the pain of all of these families, fiances, and friends who have any type of relationship with these soldiers, both women and men, fighting in Afghanistan.  It broke my heart to watch that. God Bless you all and may God bring you all home safely.  I am praying for you.","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 12:01"},{"nm":"W Hutton","rs":"0","ms":"The title by itself is offensive and misleading.  The Afgan war is 8 years old, Obama has been in office 9 months.  That could hardly be fair to lay the implied blame for Bush\'s mismanagement onto President Obama.  How can you describe the program to be an expose\' of the Afgan war and at the same time title the program with what most viewers will interpret as Obama\'s fault? Has Frontline been infected with the Fox disease?\n\nI expect more from PBS and am sorely disappointed in this. ","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 09:44"},{"nm":"J.V.Hodgson","rs":"0","ms":" A huge debate where the Administration appears to be close to a considered decision based on an evaluation of the &quot; situation on the ground&quot; McChrystals unfortunately leaked 66 page report. A military evaluation which appears to being kept very secret as it should be ( we are at war??) and input from the diplomatic or state department, NSA and CIA, and what appears to be needed from the &quot; civilian&quot; side on infrastructure and governance side in terms of resources, and considers how best to combine that with activity in Pakistan. \nNow thats a rationale for decision making, unlike the gung ho Bush administration &quot;Invade WMD Iraq and KILL OSAMA BIN LADEN and Mullah Omar\nbecause of 9/11&quot;\nFor meit is \n1) COIN plus Counter terrorism for at least 18 months if that 40,000 or 60,000 troops thats life and international security.\n2) But a civil plan and governance plan including fundamentally sharia law and justice, with wek central governance an locl tribal/ethnic governance created by having local trained police and Afghan army in the COIN secured areas before the end of the upcoming winter is key.\n3) A civil plan that works in cohesion with COIN protected areas and counter terrorism on Education, agriculture infrastructure law . Employing Afghans not aid agency or civilian Americans or Europeans, minimum technicians/specialists mostly Afghans, win over local Imams and tribal leaders.\n4) In a controlled way buy ( or destroy with compensation and conditions) the licensed poppy crop.\n5) Work with Iran, Saudi arabia etc to deny funds to the Taliban and Al Qaeda via the UN.\nThe UN to help actively to resolve the India Pakistan Kashmir border issue, and take away the ISI and Pakistan military objections to fighting the Taliban or Al Qaeda anywhere in Pakistan.\nQED make any aid to Pakistan incumbent on the resolution of the India Pakistan dispute. The Keery etc solution/conditions simply complicate the issue!!\nRegards,\nHodgson\n  ","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 04:07"},{"nm":"Jon","rs":"0","ms":"THIS IS NOT OBAMA\'S WAR. It is Gates\'s and the military\'s. Did you hear Gates\'s most recent clip?? As if he were in charge? So who\'s REALLY running the show? C\'mon! Let\'s get a grip here and stop this idiocy. Pull\'em out. But no, after Viet Nam and Iraq, Afghanistan must be like a paradise to those guys. They probably love it over there. Just like deer hunting in Nevada.","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 02:58"},{"nm":"spyguy68","rs":"0","ms":"Lots of comments about &quot;winning,&quot; so what is the exact definition of &quot;winning&quot; in Afghanistan? I have yet to see one that was actually doable.\n\nWhat I have seen, is Gen McChrystal doing an excellent imitation of Gen Westmoreland. The language is almost exactly the same. As a result I fully expect the same result.\n\nThat is, lots of Americans get killed, then we leave and Afghanistan goes on just as it has for hundreds of years after each invader has failed.\n\nAs many have pointed out, EVERY invader has ended up leaving Afghanistan as a loser, so why not just admit defeat and leave now and save a bunch of American lives. \n\nAs for the very small number of people that are plotting to harm the US, why not get more US spys in the field, find the &quot;bad guys,&quot; tag them and use our flying killer robots to eliminate them? Sure it is a slow, silent process, but it sure is a lot more effective than putting USMC into a shooting gallery as targets.","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 02:35"},{"nm":"James ","rs":"0","ms":"Reading through the comments here I am surprised that I haven’t seen a single post discussing the situation of the Afghan people depicted in the Frontline excerpt. Don’t these people and their situation matter? Even if we can’t see the humanitarian need here, these people and millions the like them around the world are both the cause of and the solution for conflicts like the one in Afghanistan. Issues of political and religious ideology really have no place in this conversation. This is an issue of basic human values and the right of individuals to live their lives in an environment which provides some hope for the future. Once that hope is lost, people start killing each other because they have nothing left to care about. It is no different whether we are talking about Afghanistan, the Gaza Strip, or the slums of Juarez and Los Angeles. \n\nIn general, the Afghan people depicted in this excerpt are probably utterly ignorant of and uninterested in issues pertaining to ideology. What they want is to put food on the table, improve their conditions of existence, and ensure the safety of their families. These are basic conditions that the vast majority of people desire and that every one of us ultimately deserve. The real mission here is not a military one; it is one of basic humanitarian values. \n\nThe Afghan people did not necessarily turn to the Taliban because they agreed with their religious or political ideology – the same way that Vietnamese and Russian peasants did not support Communism because they had a deep understanding of Marxism. Recognize the fact that the vast majority of Afghan people live in utterly abject and hopeless situations. For average citizens it becomes a simple question of what is worse, living under a totalitarian regime, being consistently screwed over by a corrupt and ineffectual government, or facing the uncertainty of anarchy. People are always going to side with the political, ideological (or other) power that can best ensure that they won’t be murdered in their homes by bandits. \n\nWe can never win a counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan or anywhere else – this is a task that must be accomplished by indigenous populations. If we cannot tangibly improve the conditions of existence and ensure that those improvements are lasting, these indigenous populations will never be motivated to fight for and create something better. Establishing a basic level of security in Afghanistan is a necessary first step in this process and the United States military can help to do that. What the U.S. military cannot do is defeat the Taliban – this is something that only the Afghans can do. \n\nIn any situation of this type, humanitarian missions must fill the gaps between military conflict, stability, and development. We, as members of developed nations, have a humanitarian duty to help the people of Afghanistan improve their lives, to help them to create something that is worth fighting for. Again, regardless of our political, religious, or ideological differences, we, as compassionate thinking people, need to recognize our roles in this mission. This is a worthy cause and one that needs to be undertaken by all of us. \n","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 01:39"},{"nm":"keith","rs":"0","ms":"The USA is NUTS!\nWe need to get out!\nYesterday!\nThis is sick!","pt":"Oct  8, 2009 01:25"},{"nm":"IK","rs":"0","ms":"To all the stupid America haters, put the foolish &quot;its about the oil&quot; rubbish in the trash where it belongs.\n\nAfghanistan has no oil.\n\nIf we haven\'t build some oil or gas pipeline in 8 years, can\'t we safely say that half-baked, faked moon landing idea isn\'t true?\n\nI thought Afghanistan was the &quot;good war&quot; that all the leftists supported.  Now that they\'re elected, they don\'t want to fight this one either.  Besides, I thought Iraq was the new Vietnam.  Oh yeah, we won there.\n\nAs for Iraq, we fought it, and defeated both Sadden, and Al-queda.  I know it makes our enemies, in caves in Pakistan and at cocktail parties in London, boiling mad, and prone to laughable outburst about how we\'re &quot;boorish&quot;, but we won.  Deal with it.\n\nBarry will have to do the right thing here too, send in more troops, and we\'ll defeat the talliban here too.  ","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 23:46"},{"nm":"Active Duty USMC","rs":"0","ms":"Interesting documentary. The difficulty of the 2/8 Marine relating to the population got a lot of attention in the comments section. One phrase I saw a couple times is \'impossible war.\' \n\nMy heartache with a piece like this is that it portrays such a small slice of what a rifle company, or even a squad, accomplishes over the course of seven months - not to mention larger brigade accomplishments over the course of a year and so on. How many people - civilian, military, and politician - will watch the full episode and take away a perceived reality that is not indicative of the nature of the long fight? \n\nIt\'s not necessarily surprising, but I\'m a little disappointed that the focus of the video was this narrow. This particular Marine has received countless hours of training in how to communicate and work with the population. The video presents a snapshot. He will learn and get better. Some who have experience from past deployments or just life experience already have become savvy in dealing with elders or creating rapport. They weren\'t prominent in the video, but they\'re on the ground. \n\nThe Marines are not in an impossible position; they\'re well trained and resourced to handle both the kinetic and non-kinetic aspects of a counter-insurgency fight. \n\nAt the end of their deployment, it\'s likely that these Marines will get more questions about fighting the Taliban than any other topic, but what will be their most important accomplishment will be bringing the government of Afghanistan (in the form of security, economic infrastructure, and representation by their own officials) back to an area that has only known Taliban rule for the past several years. \n\nThe challenge at home will be to provide support enough that gives a struggling indigenous government time to develop so it can succeed or fail on its own merit.","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 21:44"},{"nm":"Continuum","rs":"0","ms":"Cool.  Bush and his Republican corporate masters create two clusterups of wars, and then leave this flaming bag of crap on Obama\'s front door step.  And, Frontline now calls it Obama\'s War.  NPR has fallen into the world of Juan Williams and Cokie Roberts and their ilk, who obfuscate reality in favor of some sort of conservative wet dream.","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 19:32"},{"nm":"Hope","rs":"0","ms":"So, If it is asserted by some that President Obama is &quot;not responsible&quot; for the wars that our country is  currently engaged in, then it should be wholeheartedly embraced that President Truman does not bear the responsibility of dropping the first atomic weapons used in the world on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Right?  Because &quot;He didn\'t start the wars&quot;.  Right?  The United States became involved under President F. Roosevelt, so then Harry didn\'t have any decisions to make?  He did not have the job?  He did not know that we were involved in a war when FDR died and he became president?  Harry Truman did not even become vice President until 1945! It was a defining moment in Truman\'s Presidency.\n\nYour assertions that our current President bears no responsibility in this situation are just absurdly childish.  It is tantamount to a kid on the playground pointing fingers and saying, &quot;he started it!&quot;  Let me clear it up for you.... that die is cast! This is where we are.  Where are all of you who voted for the man because Afghanistan was &quot;the good war&quot;?  Why don\'t you all accept responsibility for voting the man in, in the first place!  If you don\'t believe that he could not take the heat, by your logic he should have never come into the kitchen!  All of your EXCUSES cannot change that!\n\nI didn\'t vote for the guy, but I certainly hope for all of our sakes, that he starts to MAN UP and makes some decision about something.","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 19:03"},{"nm":"Terry","rs":"0","ms":"Barack Obama inherited this war, so why is this Frontline episode entitled, &quot;Obama\'s War&quot;?  This is quite curious given that George Bush basically left Obama with an impossible situation in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  So, my vote for a new title would be &quot;Bush\'s Failure: Picking Up the Pieces&quot;.  ","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 17:48"},{"nm":"opa-opa","rs":"0","ms":"Props to PBS for calling it what it is...OBAMA\'S WAR.\n\nWhereas I\'m sure some certian people would prefer it always be called &quot;The War Started by Bush&quot;","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 17:48"},{"nm":"Joe","rs":"0","ms":"I\'m not convinced it\'s an impossible task as some suggest.\n\nEven those simple Afghan people said it &quot;you have guns, tanks, planes&quot; ... \n\nIf the US is not willing to win this with overwhelming force, then the military should leave tomorrow.","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 15:52"},{"nm":"George Willard","rs":"0","ms":"I hope our President has the guts to turn and walk away from this hopeless adventure in nation building.  Why didn\'t we leave when we won, now nearing eight years ago?  Because Disk & Rummy & Dubya were planning to invade Iran too?  That\'s the only plausible excuse I can see.\nThe crime is what we\'re doing to our own beloved US Army and Marine Corps.  They\'re the best trained and best led troops in the world for all out warfare; wars of manuever, speed and firepower.  Hi diddle diddle, straight up the middle!\nBut this riduculous &quot;hearts and minds&quot; crap should have been left in the rice paddies of Vietnam where it belongs. ","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 14:27"},{"nm":"Harry","rs":"0","ms":"All wars are the same, they are fought for questionable reasons, they usualy don\'t have the desired outcome and are just a complete waste of the public purse. As a intelligent species man has to discover the peaceful way of settling disputes. Many have tried but the brainless killing goes on!!","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 13:35"},{"nm":"mfellion","rs":"0","ms":"Why do you all call its Obama War?  You are falling into the same trap President Kennedy did in Vietnam.  This is an Afghan war, a war between Afghans.  The military brass want to make it our war so they can get brownie points to be promoted.  Remember its promotion or out in the military officers carreer.  They need wars to advance.  We can train 200,000 Afghan troops in two years, turn the country over to the military and the King and leave.  If Afghans like the Taliban or not is not our business.  We simply need to remind the Taliban we will kill them if they bother us or our allies.   If the Taliban need reminding send a B2 bomber and destroy some city filled with Taliban quislings and Taliban politicians and religious Taliban nuts. Lets focus on Al Qaeda, not the Afghan civil war that has been going on for 30 years.  ","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 11:47"},{"nm":"Dave","rs":"0","ms":"first of all this war is totale bull shit!!!! we have so many young lives over there(fathers, sons,husbands,ect) we went into war for money and oil.If you go to war you need to hit them with every resource possible!!!! otherwise it looks like were weak.and i think for the past 8 years weve  been doing nothing!!!at this point were gonna be at war for 20 years...these fucking politishins have no idea what so ever.we should just drop everything we have on them!!!!!the only way to fight an animal is to be one!!!!","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 11:35"},{"nm":"Luther","rs":"0","ms":"This so called war is depleting our country of its resovle and decency. 8 years now and what is there to show or it. We were lead to believe that foreign forces were responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Evidence to the contrary is evident. This war is about resources and money. Bush, Enron, and their foreign business partners are all to blame. How is this about freedoms when freedoms have taken away by the Patriot Act and Homeland Security Act (Nazi Terminology). Our government is being bought and influenced by people heading big corporations. Obama did not start this and probably can not end it given the number of major players involved. The true war is right here on our own soil. The American People v Congress & Corporate America. Their 57,000/hour salaries are in jeopardy with government regulations. Regulate, regulate, regulate. We need to take back our governement. It is not goverment for the corporate people by the corporate people. This is what is happening and has to stop. When Bush was questioned for what he did people were treated as unpatriotic. By definition this suggests that we were under a dictorship and to question is treason. That is what being American is. Question your leaders and hold them accountable. People want to wait until now to hold people accountable. A war is lost once the fighting begins. True victory is when there is a resolution without battle. There is nothing for America to win.","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 10:21"},{"nm":"EXneoCON","rs":"0","ms":"Misleading title for a misguided military quagmire. In the words of the immortal Yogi (Berra), &quot;It\'s deja vu all over again!&quot;","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 07:41"},{"nm":"Eric","rs":"0","ms":"What amazes me is back when Bush and the GOP controlled Congress, they were advocating the Iraq war, the record tax cuts, and the Medicare presciption drug act. These actions were the main reason we were deep in debt before the finacial crisis occured. Now they are criticizing President Obama for his spending policies to rescue the U.S. economy while at the same time they are telling him to follow Gen.McChrystal\'s request for 40,000 troops to Afghanistan which will cost us billions of more money borrowed from China. Why do Republicans complain about Obama\'s spending for the U.S. economy and the debt when they SHOULD know that tens of thousands more troops will be even more borrowed money that will burden our kids and grandkids?","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 05:29"},{"nm":"Blue Shark","rs":"0","ms":"...These soldiers are way too young to remember Vietnam, but I am not.  This looks painfully like Vietnam.\n\n...how about we find and smoke Bin Laden and call it a day?","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 03:17"},{"nm":"Ron Chanteau","rs":"0","ms":"Our mission met an active Taliban leader in Kabul. \n\nHe said simply, &quot;I love your Jesus, but I hate your Christ (Crusades).&quot; Then he invited us to have tea.\n\nOur local handler was too nervous at being seen breaking bread with a Taliban, so we bugged out.\n\nSome time later, a group of Afghan National Police roadblocked our vehicle, and held us for ransom.\n\nJust sayin\'.\n\nOur aid mission is being hijacked, our military mission is totally absolutely culturally wrong. \nOn top of that, we are stealing their resources.","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 03:12"},{"nm":"joeyess","rs":"0","ms":"Lance Cpl. Seth Shark did not die in a battle that his grandchildren will read about in school.  \n\nLet us dispose of the idea that this is going to have the strategic impact of the Battle of the Bulge.  \n\nI don\'t even know what they are trying to accomplish here.\n\nA land war in Asia?  So we can &quot;develop a relationship w/ the local population?  I lived thru Vietnam.  This sounds eerily close to that same nonsense. Endless war for fun and profit, brought to you by the MIC of the USA.","pt":"Oct  7, 2009 00:38"},{"nm":"Ray","rs":"0","ms":"Great portrayal of the American \'success\' thus far.  Would have been better to stuff C-130s with $100 dollar bills and drop over this war-torn country.  Maybe some of the money would have reached the people.  As it is now, this war has turned into a cash-cow for the MIC, and US involvement will continue until the dollar is finally devalued.  Can\'t have beans and bullets forever.  ","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 22:54"},{"nm":"jw","rs":"0","ms":"During the election a lot of people were telling me that the iraq war was a distraction.  If we make peace there than we can use our full force to go after the taliban and al queda.&quot;  That is what Obama was saying as well.  I told them &quot;don\'t believe it. the antiwar folks won\'t be happy unless we lose both wars.&quot;\n\nObama has impressed me in so far as he has done what is right in Iraq, but I don\'t know if he will have the resolve to do what it takes to finish the job against al queda.  He will probably agree with the people on this website.","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 22:51"},{"nm":"Proud Mama","rs":"0","ms":"I am so proud of these men, men who are in so many ways still just kids to we, the parents, who are at home. The strategies, the missions, and the things that these guys, and all of our military men and women, endure and face head on every day are so much more than the words that we all become numb to.  War, Afghanistan, IEDs, assault, casualties, troops lost...the words by themselves mean so many things to people individually. To a scared parent at home, these are our children who are filmed here, who fight because this is what they are there to do, without time to think sometimes...only to react. It is my little boy who is there, who is experiencing first hand all the horrors that I worked so hard for so long to shield him from. It is terrifying to be at home and envision what he is going through every day, imagining what could possibly be going through his mind, to know that he is sometimes, probably often-times, scared and wishing that he was somewhere else, ANYwhere else. That the people he stands, eats, fights, sleeps with are his family and his protection now, and that it is his job to protect them as well...are his only family wherever he is tonight. I am proud to be the mother of my Marine and of my two sons enlisted in the Army as well.  I believe in what they are doing, though it scares me to death.  I know that I am being protected now more by my children than I can ever protect them again.  Stand behind our military...they have fought hard for centuries to give you the right to CHOOSE to do so.","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 21:50"},{"nm":"KIMBERLY NANYES","rs":"0","ms":"I PRAY FOR THE TROOPS THATS ARE THERE AND THAT WILL BE GOING THERE ESPECIALLY MY FIANCE AND HIS WHOLE SQUAD I PRAY THAT EACH AND EVERYONE OF THEM COME HOME SAFE TO BE WITH THEIR LOVED ONES. ","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 21:17"},{"nm":"jon","rs":"0","ms":"This war is truley Obama\'s war and he made it his political nightmare.  The Bush administration knew from the get go that they wanted as little of a footprint in afganistan as possible.  No Army in history has ever held this country. There are no natural resources or education.  Afganistan is not Iraq, there are no major population centers with twice the land mass.  Obama should not make political decisions when it comes to war.  So naive. ","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 20:27"},{"nm":"Paula","rs":"0","ms":"This is a great piece of reporting.  These Marines are doing their best in a very tough situation.  I hope that it\'s not a hopeless mission.  \n\nMy son, an army sergeant, spent the summer of 2006 in Helmand province.  He\'s in eastern Afghanistan now.  Our troops are doing everything that is asked of them while the powers-that-be look at power point presentations and sip cocktails.  It annoys the heck out of me that after eight years they\'re still trying to define the mission.  While they\'re figuring it out, our sons and daughters are dying.\n\nI agree with a previous poster, Rudolph, that the Frontline producers need to have commentary from Andrew Bacevich to provide some balance.  He knows what it\'s like to lose a son while Washington is still defining the mission.\n\nI also have a practical reporting suggestion.  How about finding out which government contractor supplied the interpreter who barely spoke English and couldn\'t speak the dialects in that area of Afghanistan?  It\'s not an unusual situation.  It would probably cost a whole lot less and be much more effective to send one member of every deploying platoon to intensive language training.\n\nThank you, Frontline, for doing this report.","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 18:49"},{"nm":"death1","rs":"0","ms":"&quot;Protecting the people from the taliban.&quot;\nThe people ARE the taliban. You cannot &quot;liberate&quot; people that do not or cannot be &quot;liberated.&quot;\n\nCommrade Obama and his cronies laugh all the way to the bank.\n","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 18:39"},{"nm":"devildogdad","rs":"0","ms":"Thank you Frontline, for letting us see what the Marines of 2/8 Echo Company are facing on a daily basis. That being said, I\'d rather be able to see, and talk to my son, face to face. Thank you 2/8, for the job you\'re doing. Go Echo. Do your job, and come home safely to us. Your wives, parents, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters miss you. ","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 16:16"},{"nm":"FMF Doc Chuck Hancock","rs":"0","ms":"This is Vietnam all over again. Without the committment to WIN, we have no chance. We\'ve lost X number so far. Let\'s just get the hell out. That\'s how Vietnam was lost. Not by the people fighting the war, the politicians lost hope and gave up long before the military. Is this winnable?  I truely don\'t know. If not, let\'s just nuke them with small yield warheads to kill all the badguys. Scorched earth policy. Buy all the opium so that\'s not a factor. Or pack up and nuke all of the mideast. They\'d rather fight than fuck anyway.","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 15:47"},{"nm":"Pops","rs":"0","ms":"\nwhere are all the Afgan troops that we have been training for eight years?","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 15:17"},{"nm":"American Citizen","rs":"0","ms":"It seems to me that if we put in a meeting room all the people who have answers to this conflict via their comments left on numerous pages, there would be no conflict.  Servicemembers are only doing what has been asked of them by our governmental leadership.  If you want social workers, then send them.  If you want to regulate drug trafficking, then send agents.  If you think for a minute that these Marines would rather be there than with their loved ones, then you just don\'t get it.","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 09:00"},{"nm":"2/8  Marine","rs":"0","ms":"You people are ridiculious, you havent the slightest concept of what is going on, on the ground over here....being on the ground in afghanistan as I type this I find it funny how people sitting on there laz-e boys want to comment on how this war is being fought on the ground.  You guys are nothing but Arm chair quarterbacks. I wonder how our conduct is coming into question.. I would love to see any of you here try to interact with a person who you know was just shooting at you, but your hands are tied because of ROE\'s, that people like you all influence.  For those of you who support us here, we appreciate your support.  For those of you who are being negative on here...try to spend a day in our shoes!\n\nSemper Fi\n","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 06:28"},{"nm":"Cato","rs":"0","ms":"I used to stand in awe of Michael Kirk because his Frontline programs were so well informed and cogently argued.  But I take my hat off to Martin Smith.  To embed in Helmand, then actually walk those roads so that we can be better informed, as citizens, of this fight; its strengths and limitations; and how we should proceed.  That took guts.  Thank you, Mr. Smith. \n\nJust a few minutes of video of that Marine trying to convince the Afghan villagers and farmers to come back to the market is pretty much worth three or four CNAS conferences.  The full-blown COIN arguments (for the whole of Afghanistan) are strategically weak in their execution and in their appraisal of the political capital that can be expended here.  It\'s not 2001 any longer and the world is not exactly ready to jump in and help.  That option evaporated when Bush and Co. decided upon the war of choice.\n\n  Look at the CNAS writings:  pop-centric approach &quot;must take precedence over all other considerations.&quot;  This sort of thinking is just overdrawn; not well thought through; and brings us the likes of Wanat.  Thank you, Martin Smith, for simply documenting the ground truth, and risking your life to do it.  If it wakes us up and sharpens the debate, it will have been worth it.  Really a demonstration that one man can make a difference.\n\nThe question, now, of course (which I hope the remainder of the show will address), is can we chart a course between full-blown COIN and abandonment?  And if we do, will others have the political will to join us (and stay the course)?  650k troops is what typical doctrine would suggest is necessary for full blown counterinsurgency.  A Pakistani major who is now at the Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth suggests COIN in some, but not all, of Afghanistan.  So if we divide the country up and move to secure 70+%, with the Afghans standing up 200k over the next four years, we\'d need to deploy and keep in the rotation in excess of 150k to 200k at different times (declining as the Afghans stand up), assuming that we can rely on at least some of our allies to keep 100k in the fight (though if Rory Stewart is correct, many of those troops are of questionable value).  The Afghans then use capitalism to develop themselves out of poverty over the next forty years, gradually expanding the area under at least the nominal control of the central government.\n \nSo how should we frame the political question here?  No good options, surely.  What we would not want, however, is political events overtaking all good intentions in 2012.  Can Pres. Obama craft a middle way; one that can be prosecuted to significant conclusion in much of the country by the time the U.S. electorate forms the bulk of its decision in June 2012, less than three years from now?  Can he push the envelope and commit the necessary troops--if that\'s the strategy we choose--without appearing to step in the quagmire?  Can the horrendous challenges of execution be solved in time?  And what if he is significantly challenged elsewhere?  One wonders how a man of his age and experience can take all of this on.","pt":"Oct  6, 2009 02:09"},{"nm":"Grace","rs":"0","ms":"Shame on those of you who judge so quickly. The &quot;impatient&quot; Marine is being constantly shot at and avoiding death every second he is there. You try being calm in such situations of despair, discomfort, and misunderstood dialect. Every one of these men is a hero, and deserves respect for the job they are doing despite the conditions they are subjected to and living in. To 2/8 ECHO and ALL the Marines and troops in Afghanistan right now, you\'re all in the hearts and prayers of my family and friends. Semper Fidelis, and come home to us soon!","pt":"Oct  5, 2009 23:26"},{"nm":"We Are Change","rs":"0","ms":"This was a truly amazing 24 minutes of TV. I can\'t wait for the full program. Back in August I noticed a lot of interesting articles on the Council on Foreign Relations(CFR) website concerning the direction of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The CFR made three points that I noticed in Aug/Sept 2009:\n\n1) CFR advisors recommended that the US should limit the use of Preditor Drones and increase the use of conventional soldiers.\n\n2) The CFR directly advised Gen McChyrstal that the American public needed to be properly prepared for this conflict through the media because it was going to involve lots of additional troops (~60,000) and at least 30 years of occupation with billions of dollars annual going to the Afghani government for security training.\n\n3) Richard Haass (president of the CFR) directly challenged Pres. Obama\'s declaration that the conflict in Afghanistan was &quot;a war of necessity&quot;. Haass claims that this war is a war of choice like the Iraqi conflict.\n\nWhy is all this important? The powers to be are trying to communicate to the American public that this war will fail if we don\'t send more troops soon and keep them there for 30+ years. They want Obama to live up to his campaign promise to expand the war in Afghanistan. That is why this is called &quot;Obama\'s War&quot;...\n\nIf America can occupy Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran and maintain the proxy war capabilities of Pakistan, then America can maintain control over the vast natural gas and oil reserves of Central Eurasia... Meaning America can economically contain China, India, and Russia. If America can contain the emerging powers then it can maintain the Dollar supremacy around the world...\n\nInterestingly, I watched this video with the awareness that it was supposed to make me appreciate the hard/dangerous work of our young troops and make me want the President to send more to support these soldiers. However, I was left with the notion that more than ever we need to bring our troops home and soon!!!","pt":"Oct  5, 2009 22:32"},{"nm":"Matthew","rs":"0","ms":"My comment is more of a question. I don\'t understand the title, \'Obama\'s War\' seems to suggest that Obama began the war. He supported it from the sidelines, and since he came into the White House he placed greater focus on it. But it is Bush\'s war. Either way, I sincerely hope that Obama will lead the war with our troops safety in mind first. I don\'t usually pray, but I am placing all of the hope I have into our troops returning home safely.","pt":"Oct  5, 2009 20:17"},{"nm":"RITA PETTY","rs":"0","ms":"Even Lawrence Eagleburger who was Sec. of State for George H W Bush said our war in Afghanistan is turning into a Vietnam. Our military is being killed by Afghan policeman they are patrolling WITH.  A poll by the PACKISTANI people says they don\'t want us there.  CODE PINK  which is hoping to start protest marches to get us out of Afghanistan is serious. As a mother of 3AF veterans sons,  a wife of a 20 yr.AF veteran and as a AF veteran myself I want our boys OUT.......\nThis family has been involved in 3 wars. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  ","pt":"Oct  5, 2009 17:55"},{"nm":"John Bell","rs":"0","ms":"The whole effort is a big waste. You watch, it will all come to nothing. The soviets were kicked out and so will we be. Besides, who cares what happens in Afghanistan? It is not worth the lost money and lives. It is just to enrich the US war profiteers. Just leave the people alone and let them live in peace. US drug law is enriching the drug growers. Legalize and tax drugs and the taliban falls from profit. The conflict will go on for years more with no one winning. The US cannot win such a war, look at Vietnam. ","pt":"Oct  5, 2009 17:39"},{"nm":"Middleton","rs":"0","ms":"Let us get out of there!  Just misery, death and destruction.  So, Frontline, you still didn\'t say WHY we are fighting there.","pt":"Oct  5, 2009 17:27"},{"nm":"joe dauz","rs":"0","ms":"So how about \nObamas Response to One of Bushs Wars\nAs an accurate Frontline Title.\n\nWhen did PBS become the Christian Rights point of view only. \n\nObamas Only War so far was to kill a bug.\n\nj dauz","pt":"Oct  5, 2009 13:27"},{"nm":"Anonymous","rs":"0","ms":"I do thank the servicemen for their efforts, and would like them to know that we support you, and do hope this war end\'s soon.\n\nHowever after watching this preview, I must question the conduct of some of the servicemen and their parley\'s with the tribesmen. In order for their &quot;people-oriented mission&quot; to succeed, they must know how to speak with these elders and farmers. First, sit down and talk with them, rather than standing up and direct your conversion in a more polite manner. This should be obvious. You get their attention, their sympathy, and their wisdom of the area. They are simple people, but would like to be treated with respect. ","pt":"Oct  5, 2009 10:38"},{"nm":"The Light","rs":"0","ms":"\nMy prayers go out to each soldier and their families. This is not OBAMA\'s war. This phoney war is all about energy, and other resouces.\n\nWe have money for war but can\'t use the same amount to fund PELL GRANT\'s, to ensure everyone has healthcare. Wake up....","pt":"Oct  5, 2009 05:27"},{"nm":"Anonymous","rs":"0","ms":"Ok so let\'s say we squeeze al Qaeda out. Uh, what\'s to say they won\'t just move to Yemen or Somalia or any other failed Islamic state? This is just wack a mole costing trillions of dollars and thousands of US lives. We should be focused on stopping the next group of 9/11 type Islamasist from pulling off another attack here in this country where me and my family and friends live.\nBTW, this episode looks great and I am happy to Frontline moving away from stories on GW and his cronies every episode.","pt":"Oct  5, 2009 01:21"},{"nm":"Vincent Narvaez","rs":"0","ms":"As an Ex-Marine and Persian Gulf veteran, I am embarassed with the conduct these young devildogs display. Why hasn\'t command embedded someone who can broker and persuade? \n\nIt is easy to bark orders and demands to people you don\'t comprehend or understand but so much harder to influence because fear doesn\'t get you anywhere very long. The power of persuasion will go much farther if someone knows how to use it. \n\nIf this can be done with some success I can see a brighter picture ahead but from what I\'ve seen in this clip we truly have a long way to go. \n\nGood Luck Marines and God Bless!","pt":"Oct  5, 2009 00:25"},{"nm":"Anonymous","rs":"0","ms":"For those questioning the choice of &quot;Obama\'s War&quot; as the title:\n\nA past FRONTLINE production about the Iraq War, entitled &quot;Bush\'s War,&quot; received this title because the Iraq War is an event that will play a great role in defining Bush\'s presidency; it is, by and large, the war that Bush will be remembered for.\n\nSimilarly, FRONTLINE is predicting now that how Obama handles the War in Afghanistan will be one of the major factors in how we remember his presidency.  And although he did not start the war, it is now his responsibility; its fate is in his hands; it is &quot;his war.&quot;\n\nI think the title is perfect and I can\'t wait to watch this on October 13.  Thank you FRONTLINE for giving us this preview to ease the pain of waiting!","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 18:58"},{"nm":"Mary","rs":"0","ms":"As a mother of a Marine in ECHO (America\'s Battalion) I found this report VERY hard to watch. My heart broke as I watched the initial footage of Lcpl Sharp. I know people that were involved in that moment and can\'t imagine living it. \n\nI look forward to the full version and will encourage everyone I know to watch. I will also be praying for the rest of the Battalion\'s safe return and for the intelligent decision to END this conflict.\n\nSemper Fi","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 17:09"},{"nm":"Doug Gillespie","rs":"0","ms":"I was enlightened but saddened to see the waste of American boys in Afganistan.Our Canadian troops die weekly also and I can\'t see why we\'re in Afgan...This is a war about oil pipelines and access to Kazistan and other regions. I say get out and fight the real enemy,big business greed and gov\'t involvment in privatization. Let the Muslim countries fight their own battles.Send home Canadian and American soldiers.NOW!","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 16:30"},{"nm":"Jonathan  Y","rs":"0","ms":"THe problem with this war lies largely in part with the heart of us as Americans. This is a war for hearts. Americans want quick results, yet to successfully win this war we will have to commit long term, even as much as 50 years. The reason the people don\'t want to come outside is because they figure that, like so many times before, the Americans will come in for a bit, fight, and then leave, and whoever has helped will be killed. We must stay for the long term to get results!","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 15:53"},{"nm":"Colin","rs":"0","ms":" As a Canadian, and a supporter of our troops in Afghanistan I find the rude childish comments about  BOORISH American soldiers / Wars for Oil American imperialism extremely offensive.  The arm chain generals and &quot;experts&quot; posting on this website are a bunch of Cowards...","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 15:49"},{"nm":"Baddscorpio","rs":"0","ms":"This war has been something somewhat unfamiliar and I have not been able to relate to it....until now. Adairsville is less than a 20 minute drive from where I live. \n\nI pray that this war comes to an end.","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 15:31"},{"nm":"mika.","rs":"0","ms":"Why are not the oil corporations made to pay for all of this? Why are US taxpayers subsidizing this mafia with treasure and blood?","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 13:50"},{"nm":"john hartman","rs":"0","ms":"All you need to know about American prospects in Afghanistan is found in the scene where the “pushy” Marine is impatiently trying to browbeat the Afghani villagers into giving up information regarding the whereabouts of the Taliban. \n\nThe Afghani villagers are looking at the boorish Marine, thinking to themselves, “This American soldier is a real jerk. I wouldn’t tell him anything cuz it will just get me killed later.”\n\nMeanwhile, the Marine, who utterly fails to understand anything about human interaction, continues to browbeat, bully and berate the locals.\n\nthe locals understand perfectly well that at some point, the snotty, boorish American marines will leave and then the villagers will be forced to deal with whomever remains.\n\nThe villagers have seen all this before in the long, tragic history of their nation. The British tried the same thing. The Russians tried the same thing and all the foreigners eventually left and the villagers had to contend with the Mujahadeen or the Taliban or whomever.\n\nThe boorish marine typifies the length and breadth of American hubris. He is a caricature of the American persona - bold, brash, bullying and boorish.\n\nHe will get nowhere. America will tuck tail and leave and the Afghanistan of old will again re-emerge.\n\n\n \n","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 13:28"},{"nm":"Jim Sparkman","rs":"0","ms":"Absolutely riveting footage and commentary, this should be mandatory viewing for every person in America. Although our military is blind in their ambition and our politicians are fools (or fooled), I applaud the bravery of the persons fighting this war, although I am sure it is partly driven by fear. I would not be there by choice or someone else\'s choice. Hopefully, they will all come home soon.","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 13:19"},{"nm":"Investigate NWO-globalists","rs":"0","ms":"Obama is continuing the illegal wars of the Bush/Cheney regime!!!\n\nIraq & Afghanistan have oil, that\'s why we\'re there!  That save the people from the &quot;Taliban&quot; over there so they don\'t get us here is a pretext--pure b.s.!!!  Furthermore, we have no right in being the world\'s policeman anyway!!!","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 12:42"},{"nm":"S. Bain","rs":"0","ms":"The Afganis know that the coallition occupiers are not there for the long haul. They may want to trust coalition soldiers but they know that in reality, the taliban will always be waiting to recover control once the coallition leaves.\nI don\'t see why the coallition can\'t gain control of the poppy production by paying the farmers more than the taliban is able to pay - it would still be peanuts by comparison. The cost of operating a single heliocopter crew for a month would easily supliment a village of 1,000 for a year. Economics will override all risk in the long run. Eventually, farmers could be asked to switch production over to more useful crops and then some type of farm subsidy must be maintained. Do these people even have a banking system?","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 12:24"},{"nm":"M LAMMERT","rs":"0","ms":"Intense.  All Americans should watch this.  We cannot afford to pretend ignorance about what our soldiers are experiencing while decisions are flying about in Washington.  Another Vietnam in the making, I think.\n\nThe reporting is intense.  Thank you for keeping it real.  Please keep it accurate.  We don\'t need any more lies fed to us.","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 12:23"},{"nm":"susan dugas","rs":"0","ms":"My main impression: total lack of communication or respect between troops and locals - this cannot lead to anything constructive or long term. So this type of warfare is doomed to failure.   Please don\'t waste any more lives on this method.\n\nSecond thought - how tragic that young, brave, dedicated soldiers\' lives are being lost or ruined for such ridiculously badly-planned objectives.  Will we never learn??\n\nThird: why waste time discussing the name of the war (it\'s Bush\'s AND Obama\'s AND America\'s and Britain\'s etc.).  \n\nAnd no doubt the deep, authoritative tones of the typical Frontline presenter will be there in the final version.\n\nI eagerly await the rest of the program; I wonder whether you\'ll be able to make any sense of any of this?","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 12:01"},{"nm":"Rodolfo Martinez","rs":"0","ms":"In the end, WAR only has the power to destroy.  May God forgive us for what we do.","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 11:53"},{"nm":"Steven Ramsay","rs":"0","ms":"   Frontline doing a superb job as usual. I guess my main complaint would be the title of this program.&quot;Obamas War&quot; seems misleading to me in that this war was started by the previous administration and the current presidents task is to clean up a mess that no other government on earth has been able to do for what, thousands of years?","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 09:09"},{"nm":"Betty Stowe-Spinola","rs":"0","ms":"If the ex-POTUS had finished the job after 9-11 we wouldn\'t be in this mess now. All those suits in DC with their graphs and charts and rounds of cocktail parties need to spend some R & R in lovely South Afganistan, where they too can learn the language.Perhaps then they could convince the locals to stop growing those nasty poppies and eke out a living raising cauliflower and kumquats.  Oh please. This war will be a nightfmare, but as long as Americans are walking, flying or riding in that country they have my full support.  I can\'t say the same for the policies now in force. ","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 08:59"},{"nm":"Obamania","rs":"0","ms":"One of the president of the Afghanistan stated that people power is Gods power. You must understand that if the Afghanistan people aren\'t on your side, God isn\'t on your side.\n\nAlso, Alexander the great was the only person ever to conqure Afghnistan and keep it fully under control but only for three years.\n","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 08:44"},{"nm":"Earthling","rs":"0","ms":"Who would want to be friends with American troops?! They look like stressed psychos with guns. Distrust and fear would be any sane person\'s response. The US military brings NOTHING except guns and trigger-happy brute force violence. There\'s no real intelligence and compassion for the Afghani people. America is such an imperialist gangster resource-looting drug-using country. Per capita, the US wastes more resources than any other country. Afghanistan has to be about imperialist resource looting. Show us the data. \n\nNever forget the lies told by the previous administration, ON BEHALF of the criminal oil and construction companies.\n\n\<a href=&quot;http://projects.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/&quot;\>http://projects.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/\<\/a\>\n\nFalse Pretenses -- Following 9/11, \'President\' Bush and seven top officials of his administration waged a carefully orchestrated campaign of misinformation about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein\'s Iraq.\n","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 03:32"},{"nm":"Steve Schlock","rs":"0","ms":"Ok so let\'s say we squeeze the Taliban out. Uh, what\'s to say they won\'t just move to Yemen or Somalia or any other failed Islamic state? This is just wack a mole costing trillions of dollars and thousands of US lives. We should be focused on stopping the next group of 9/11 type Islamasist from pulling off another attack here in this country where me and my family and friends live.  \nBTW, this episode looks great and I am happy to Frontline moving away from GW and cronies every episode.","pt":"Oct  4, 2009 03:16"},{"nm":"Mark ","rs":"0","ms":"I found the segment informative.  There is no doubt the Marines have a difficult job in Helmand.   The Marine Corp has always relished the hard jobs.  My thoughts and prayers go to the family of the young Marine killed in the segment.   Semper Fidelis.\n\nI question the balance here.  I just listened to a BBC reporter speaking from Helmand.  He was reporting on the fantastic progress being made in Helmand.  I wish I could site the actual report.  I looked for it on NPR (I heard the report on my local PBS station) and was unable to find it. Whenever a report is made from the front line of any combat it is graphic to say the least.  I question if this graphic emotional story of young Marines doing their best at a very difficult job; properly frames the question “do we belong there”  I am not sure it does.\n\n\n\n\n\n ","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 21:34"},{"nm":"Rudolf","rs":"0","ms":"I find it amazing how, through PBS\' prism, there seem to be no critics of \'Obama\'s War.\' We should be asking ourselves why PBS is so slavish to the counterinsurgency cult. Why are the assumptions of counterinsurgency never challenged by PBS? For balance, one might begin by picking up a copy of \'The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual\' by the Network of Concerned Anthropologists, published by Prickly Paradigm Press. Even \'shadow government\' CNAS - the views of which are represented quite generously here in the form of Nagl & Exum - allowed Andrew Bacevich to be the lone critical voice at their counterinsurgency gala earlier this year. Why couldn\'t PBS do the same? Viewers need to be privy to the (quite reasonable) viewpoint that counterinsurgency = neo-colonialism; there should be no illusions, and yet PBS continues to foster them...","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 21:26"},{"nm":"travis","rs":"0","ms":"i have viewed this 24 min of very informative vidio and would really like to see more. i do however feel discomfort in the title and would appriciate if consideration was taken to change this from obamas war. weather it serves a purpose for the american people, our country, or our economy makes no differance we have OUR boys, our sisters, and brothers,the fact remains that we are there. i feel that it is an american issue not an obama issue weather it be for praise or discontent to obama he is not there, we as a people are. every solier is related to someone here and this fact means that we are all there somehow. weather right or wrong this is OUR war.","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 21:14"},{"nm":"G.","rs":"0","ms":"It is a war-game, not a fight for democracy. It never will be. Peace. \nPBS thank you for the footage. We all need to see the real deal.","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 20:35"},{"nm":"Kevin Shea","rs":"0","ms":"This is some great footage.  Cant wait till i leave jan 11 2010 for marine bootcamp for my chance to do my part. Semper Fi","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 19:34"},{"nm":"colin fairclough","rs":"0","ms":"welcome to helmand, we british have been here fighting in the worst province in Afghanistan for years, we welcome our american brothers in arms, we have fought and died here now we march side by side. it seems Britain and America are always the ones who are the first to stand against evil and oppression, i have to mention our commonwealth brothers Canada, who have also been here with us from the start and who have suffered many KIA and wounded but it is the british who have carried the load in helmand with only 9000 soldiers fighting in the province since the start of this conflict. more of the other nations have to help carry the burden it cannot be britain and America alone who fight the lions share. this is a war for freedom and democracy and its a war we all have to fight. as i said at the beginning, welcome America its an honour to fight at your side, when we stand together nothing is impossible as the Kaiser, Hitler and Saddam found out. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN, LONG LIVE BRITTANIA, LONG LIVE AMERICA!!!\n","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 18:40"},{"nm":"Love","rs":"0","ms":"Why aren\'t Americans destroing the fields full of drugs? Are they there for that piece of land, so they can sell the drugs or are they there to protect the people from Taliban? Having drugs growing on their territory will not make people\'s lives safer!! For God sake, the conditions that these people live in are horrible, they have no real health care, no education system, no real progress in any way. Why help people who don\'t care about themselves? Those people have no modivation to do anything. \nA solution to end the war would be to cut off Taliban\'s income by chopping down those fields first. Then by setting up an education system throughout the whole country. Educating people about their culture and the things that can turn their lives around, so they can have families and the accomodations of someone who would have a TV, a cellphone, a vehicle, and even a house that would have an airconditioner. Amercans have alot of experience in business development. So why not show Afganys how to do it? Instead of sending solders, they should send experts in business development and people who see the opportunuty in their poor country. To essentials that are needed to make Afganys happy are very simple, it\'s called things that make evry person happy. There shouldn\'t be a war but more of a humanitarian and developing Afganys infrastructure and economy kind of aid, because love is the answer!!","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 18:32"},{"nm":"Matt","rs":"0","ms":"This is not fair to the troops and misleading to the public.  Our mission was to protect the populace of afghanistan? Really?  I thought our mission was ot hunt and capture the Taliban?  Our mission keeps morphing so many times that i don\'t even recognize it.  Our occupation will never end since the political and military leadership will keep changing the mission to suit their needs and unstated objectives.  What\'s the endgame folks?","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 18:19"},{"nm":"Sergei","rs":"0","ms":" I wonder how people ere stupid who assume that USA spends billions of dollars to create democracy in Afghanistan. There is one important reason why USA involved in this war. it is war experience which USA needs to create stronger army for future conquests","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 17:10"},{"nm":"Pete","rs":"0","ms":"looks like dry vietnam, Army need more FCS like tatics, satelite communcate with Local People, Local people link with Taliban and they have knowledge and pride, use this point to make our troops benefit, simple thinking is hard to win, Make a Winning Tactic with local and implement","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 14:28"},{"nm":"Hope","rs":"0","ms":"Thank you for this documentary.  I can\'t wait until the 13th to see the whole show.  Thank you also for titling it &quot;Obama\'s war&quot;.  He ran for office, he won the election, he knew this would not magically end before he took office, he is the commander in chief, therefore the title is absolutely accurate.  It is indeed &quot;Obama\'s war&quot; and will continue to be so until 2012.\n\nFor all of you who are harping on &quot;Bush\'s war&quot;...You don\'t seem to be expressing much confidence in the President, the Current president, to believe that he might actually be able to MAN UP and make the difficult choices that every president has to make. President Bush, is now &quot;former President Bush&quot;.  Adjust and please catch up! \n\nThe Presidency of the United States of America is a tough job, it is for every one of them.  The lives of these men and woman rest in his hands and have since January.  It is indeed, &quot;Obama\'s War&quot;.","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 13:45"},{"nm":"Doug Buchanan","rs":"0","ms":"This all sounds very much like Canadians military position all along. You just have to read our ROE’s (rules of engagement). We are trying to talk to the people. Show them we are human and mean them no harm. We are trying to provide them with the same thing everyone wants, security to be able to go about their daily business. So they can raise their children to have a better life than what they have.  I was there when the Soviets were leveling villages because someone fired a rifle at them. They got there ass handed to them. I believe that this “War” is winnable. As long as we are in it for the long haul with no end date. When it comes to the actual shooting Canadians start at the lowest level then escalate if necessary. Not the other way round. “Peace through superior firepower” “Blow them all up and let God sort it” mentality, Does not work. RESPECT is what it is all about. Respect them and they will respect you.  ","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 12:53"},{"nm":"David Malenfant","rs":"0","ms":"How can you people be against the war in Afghanistan after 9/11, all the plots to terrorize Americans, and the arrest last week of Najibullah Zazi. \nThese people are still out to kill us and you want to stand by and take it. Being against the war in Iraq is one thing but this is another. We are America, and we can\'t let these punks think they can do what they want and get away with it. ","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 04:19"},{"nm":"Noel Abdullah Johnson","rs":"0","ms":"Martin Smith always delivers a eye opening and engaging report.He seems unable to disapoint his viewers.","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 03:26"},{"nm":"Jerome Thibodeau","rs":"0","ms":"They say that a spiritual law that governs the Universe is: for every action, there is an equal and balancing reaction. It\'s very close to a law of physics, as true spiritual laws usually are. One billion people in the world and the US response is ethanol in the gas tank of every American.  Crops that could feed the world, put into gas tanks.  Why not make a vehicle that runs on dead baby bodies, they could fit in a gas tank and you would save money.  And the millions of homeless in Irak, Afghanistan..., what will be the karmic reaction from that, will be something out of a horror novel. And then GMO foods to starve millions again.  What would be equal retribution could only be known by God, Satan has always been a little skirmish.","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 02:43"},{"nm":"Anonymous","rs":"0","ms":"how is this obama\'s war?or did you forget bush sent the troops to iraq and afghanistan way before pres obama took office.you really must be a person with no brains","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 02:35"},{"nm":"Rob","rs":"0","ms":"This problably won\'t get posted and it is a question to the creators/editors of the show rather then a comment. Please enlighten me why this show is called Obama\'s War? and not Bush\'s War? or The Afghanistan Conflict? or many other titles. It\'s a bit misleading.","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 02:33"},{"nm":"MARTIN","rs":"0","ms":"I\'m wondering if any of the decision makers sitting in &quot;war rooms&quot; , calling the shots, consider the thoughtful comments I\'ve just read on this page. Thanks Frontline!!","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 02:27"},{"nm":"Diana","rs":"0","ms":"I agree with an earlier comment, this is Bush and Channey\'s \'other war\'not Obama\'s war.  Was he even in the Senate when this war started?  Please change title.  I still don\'t know what we are trying to accomplish in Afganistan!!!!  Are we going to build them a new nation while are own is falling apart.... Please!!!!! How insane is that? \nThose young marines in the preview were not able to communicate effectively and weren\'t even provided with an interp who was qualified!  They deserve better!  What about Pakistan?  What kind of games are they playing?  I know this isn\'t a political forum,but just seeing the preview stirred up a lot of anger.  I love Frontline you do a tremendous job and I applaude your reporting.  I\'m so tired of war!!  Terrorist aren\'t only in Afganistan are they??       ","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 02:12"},{"nm":"Anonymous","rs":"0","ms":"wow you people think these soldiers are fighting in the will of god thats bullshit why would god want a total diffrent country fighting in a far away land across the the dam globe to fight a little party called the taliban. its obvios that there doing that cause they hate them they hate muslims they want to put a end to them a end to the truth wow. may i remind you all america has maid many exadurations many mistakes killed so many inncoent people supply the isrealis to kill every day adleast 10 or 20 muslims and destroying there homes.Or going back to viatnam huh what reson did they go there to steel there goods know they are steeling oil. Why should you think americans are doing good things today why do you trust the media like this one about what its saying. O and one more thing keep comenting they learn from your coment and what you think about this war so they make a plan and some how lie to you on the media cause if you are dum enough to follow this one then they know youl be dum enough on the one on tv so think. if they are so holy why do they waste there time on killing and oil and guns howcome they arent praying and truly helping there own people you Americans. they waste money everyday on something that is point less when they can use that money to help build america. If bush cared about america then he would of stoped all the coruption going on over there think of that.","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 01:26"},{"nm":"FP Morales","rs":"0","ms":"Beware of the experts who have a financial interest in continued warfare.  Watch behavior, not words.  These wars are a dream come true for America\'s adversaries.  And every time they happen, we are stupid enough to walk right into the strategic ambush.  We have been doing this for eight years and we still don\'t know what the [expletive] we are doing?!  Step away from the country!  Shut up!  Every time a talking head opens his/her mouth, it costs us billions of dollars we do not have to pay for it.  If we are that stupid, maybe we deserve what is coming to us.","pt":"Oct  3, 2009 01:21"},{"nm":"Mike","rs":"0","ms":"After 8 going on 9 years, Afghanistan, the afterthought is now front and center.\n\nThe money, the resources, and the will to fight and win in Afghanistan sucked up, used up in Iraq.  Now, we\'re turning our attention to Afghanistan.\n\nTwo questions for this episode:\n\n1) How do we get to a win in Afghanistan (just these first 24 minutes leave me HIGHLY skeptical of that likelihood)?\n\n2) How do we get to a win which survives  US withdrawal (we\'re not going to, can\'t afford to stay another 8 years are we?  Those who think we can\'t afford health care reform or another stimulus packaage, or another economic meltdown, can\'t seriously think we can)?\n\nAt best, as in Iraq, ultimately, I would think success in Afghanistan will not be military, will not be primarily military.  Therefore, withdrawal cannot and shouldn\'t be (but, politically is probably going to be) seen as defeat.\n\nWhen the iron was hot, we largely pulled up stakes and went into Iraq.  Eight years later we want to pick up the trail and win???\n\nIt\'s not reasonable or realistic.  But, that hasn\'t stopped us lately.","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 22:14"},{"nm":"Carl Rody","rs":"0","ms":"Hopefully after all the reports are in and requests are asked of our president, he recognizes that the war in Afghanistan is one that cannot achieve its goals  and was, in hindsight, poorly conceived and poorly executed for the past 8 yrs. This is a war that will not and cannot be &quot;won&quot;. In order to control a country of that size with that terrain, you would have to put at least a quarter of a million men and women on the ground. Even with those numbers, it could take a decade to see any kind of &quot;success&quot;. We could see numbers like 25 to 50 thousand dead US soldiers and perhaps kill hundreds of thousands of indigenous people. For what?","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 16:44"},{"nm":"San","rs":"0","ms":"This is not about becoming close to population and other hypocritical language.\nThis is about taking control of DRUG trafficking from Taliban. Why would they keep that money when the US economy is in shambles and need infusion it has been keeping it propped up for eight years now.\nWake up, people, wake up!","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 16:26"},{"nm":"Ken Hanson","rs":"0","ms":"The question is: how do we move forward and end and win this war for the sake of the Afghan people and humanity at large? \nAfghanistan, and please don\'t be shocked, is the ultimate\nfailure of Muslim countries and the Islamic Ideology at the heart of it. Many Muslim extremists are ready to join the \nviolence, but their governments are inept, not willing to contribute troops or money to help SAVE the people of Afghanistan. \n\nThey, the Muslims, need to take charge by contributing money and troops\nto help the Afghan government ready its own army and security forces. No one can secure Afghanistan but the Afghan people\nthemselves. Each Muslim country contributes 5,000 troops; that is more than 250,000 troops. NATO can play a minor role in logistics\nand air support behind the scenes.\nThe Afghan people can, and I think will, trust their Muslim brothers. Another aspect to this would be to give the Pashtunes\na stake by participating in the new government and Army. Without the inclusion of the Pashtunes-the residents of the south, \nthis strategy will not work. What the Americans fails to understand is that the Afghans will never like or trust the \'infidels\'. \nThe moment they hear Allah and Mohammad, their hearts flutter and they are easily swayed to the Taliban side; even if \nwe spend billions and billions to win their hearts and minds.\nThank you Frontline for this work. And most importantly, we need not forget the sacrifices of the troops and their families.\n","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 16:11"},{"nm":"Michael Burchill","rs":"0","ms":"Thank you Frontline - for what promises to be another intense and informative program. You ARE what television was suppose to be... Keep up the great work.\n\nI can\'t help but remember watching black & white news footage during the late 60\'s from Viet Nam (I was a young child then) as I watch this. The similarities are scary. The assumptions nearly identical. Let\'s hope the outcome is different... otherwise we should get out now.\n\nCan\'t wait for the full episode to air!","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 15:53"},{"nm":"betty","rs":"0","ms":"I would like to start by saying I am an American. Have we lost the definition? We are a nation (present tense...ARE) founded on Judeo- Christian values..I know my founding fathers had the same truths I have today. I\'m extremely grateful for this well done documentary and I applaude the decision to do this coverage. The bravado of to whole news team is parallel to our Marines.  Some where I read THIS is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us...AND we ought to lay down our lives for one another... Oh yes, It is found in the New Testament of the Bible in the 3rd Chapter of John verse 16.\nI am proud to be an American and am glad I was brought in the land of the free and the brave... \nTo be a mother of 3 sons in the military is humbling and yet something to be proud of because I know I brought them up by the same principles I was brought up on and BELIEVED in.  To God be the Glory!   Betty/October 2, 2009","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 15:46"},{"nm":"skeeter","rs":"0","ms":"I will be hearing Greg Mortenson (author,3 cups of tea)next Friday. He has been working w/Afgan\ntribal leaders and locals for many years.\n\nI\'m glad I saw this video, as it will give a reference point for questions after his presentation.\n\nI agree with some of the others, double down with everything \'ya got, or get the hell out.  How can we win as an occupying force???","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 15:38"},{"nm":" Randy H.","rs":"0","ms":"Thanks to Martin and his fine staff for the outstanding reporting in this and other presentations.\n\nI was in SE Afghanistan through most of 2003-things were relatively quiet compared to the current situation.  That said, a couple of points to consider:\n\n1. There will never be a centralized form of government in Afghanistan.  If this is the metric General\'s P and Mc require as one of the pillars of sustained peace and stability in Afghanistan...it will never happen.  Most who have served there or know the cultural and terrain realize that Afghanistan is nothing like Iraq...\n\n2. The varied cultural, language/dialects, religion and tribalism throughout Afghanistan results in actually divides the country...and each does not trust the other.\n\n3. Protecting the civilians maybe &quot;logical&quot; in the short run, but the Taliban (defined as religious students..or those who seek religious knowledge) is an ideology.. ingrained in radical form of Sunni Islam in the eastern and southern provinces adjacent to Pakistan.  That Pastun &quot;belt&quot; extends into Pakistan causing a &quot;tribal country&quot; of sorts.  This &quot;support&quot; from across the border is the main challenge to our troops.\n\n4. No matter how many troops are sent to Afghanistan, selective attacks on our people can look as though the entire country is un-secure.  Do we sent another 40,000 then another 50,000...I think not.\n\nIn closing, the focus is and should be not on nation building..because there is not real nation..just tribal fractions operating independent of Kabul.\n\nAnd lastly, where were all the &quot;experts&quot; and nation building implementers in the early days...\nwell, most were in Iraq...the war that did not have to be...we are now paying and have paid a heavy price for the decisions made by the previous administration.\n\nAgain, to Frontline and Martin Smith and staff..great work for bringing the critical questions of &quot;why&quot; or &quot;how many more&quot; or &quot;when will the ANA be up to the task, if ever&quot;.\n\nSE Afghanistan/2003\nLTC/11A","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 15:34"},{"nm":"Wally","rs":"0","ms":"I wouldn\'t call this &quot;Obama\'s war&quot; since it was Bush who started it. Rename it to &quot;Bush\'s war&quot; and I\'m listening. I liked the film though.","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 15:01"},{"nm":"Peggy","rs":"0","ms":"Another powerful Frontline production!  I have counted on Frontline to tell it like it really is and I am not disapointed with &quot;Obama\'s War\'.  Where is the voice of Frontline, the Frontline narrator that makes me sit up and pay attention because I am going to learn something important?\n\nThe facts on any war are more than horrifying, sad and never easy to accept and you do an excellent job of presenting them.  \n\nWell done and many thanks,\n\nPeggy","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 14:08"},{"nm":"JOHNLUTZ","rs":"0","ms":"amazing unreal video...omg  my Son in it 2/8 echo 2nd pltn, back of his helmet say Apos (his blood type).\n\ni only can say this...i would like to see bush & his bible budy chaney (& other bogus war mangers for $$/oil....right next to our BOYs/Heroes! i need to stop cuz i could go on all day!\n\nVPF of a 2/8 E.Co Marine\n\nps\n\nplz Obama give them Boys everything we got or get them out of that shithole!!","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 14:06"},{"nm":"Robert Coalson","rs":"0","ms":"Frontline does a spectacular job of giving the viewer a clear feel for what is happening on the ground in Afganistan. The heat, the sand, the vast empty spaces, and the Marines\' frustrations over the sheer difficulty of their task.\n   Our soldiers can\'t get a handle on things because there is no handle to be gotten.  Ancient tribal cultures of warrior people, they can\'t begin to imagine a peaceful democracy or beneficial governments of any type.\n   It\'s becoming clear that nations aren\'t &quot;built.&quot; They can only emerge over time. Europe was a land of warlords and brutal religious conflict for centuries.\n   The US needs to do what it must to protect itself, but it should give up its arrogant view that we can make other sovereign countries suddenly &quot;see the light&quot; because we are sooo special.","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 13:05"},{"nm":"Philip","rs":"0","ms":"This is excellent material. It highlights \nthe anxiety and frustration that the young\nsoldiers experience in the field. \n\nThe story does sob a bit too much for the great tragedy of death. (Deaths in Afghanistan are minimal alongside those in Vietnam.) It does not include, in my view, enough analysis of the exit strategy -- which is to train Afghan forces so we can get the hell out of Dodge with our scalps intact. \n\nWe abandoned the Afghans before and we know the result of that. Anyone who can\'t understand what we are fighting for should consider the prospect of another Al Qaeda haven -- as that is what the country will certainly become short of our efforts to stabilize it and leave it with a semblance of normality.....","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 12:47"},{"nm":"davidp","rs":"0","ms":"Obama´s War?  Going through the PBS´s American Experience series on the Prsidents...it has been Roosevlt´s War, Johnson´s War, Bush´s War, and now Obama´s War. Where in reality it has been America´s failed policies to understand different non-American nations and have serious dialogue with them. (See what is happening now with Iran and Obama).  Don´t you think it about time to consider others without the extreme agendas of American politcal and  economic ties that only enrich the wealthy.","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 09:41"},{"nm":"Luc Hétu","rs":"0","ms":"Talibans are Afghans too. Killing Talibans is killing Afghans. There should be another way of winning this cultural, religious and political war. For years, the main words we heard from the Bush administration and it\'s allies was the necessity to kill the ennemy. But who is the ennemy? Let us hope that the Americans and their allies find other ways to send a hopeful message to civilian populations as well as Afghan insurgents. It seems easier to shoot guns than to talk to the people, as was shown in this segment. Americans want negociations between Palestinians and Israelis. They should try it in their own wars.\n","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 09:12"},{"nm":"Rob ","rs":"0","ms":"&quot;Obama\'s War&quot; this gives the impression that President Obama started this. We should be calling this &quot;Bush\'s Other War&quot; or &quot;Bush\'s Unfinished Business&quot; or &quot;The Bush Legacy&quot;. ","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 07:23"},{"nm":"Ricky Drake","rs":"0","ms":" This show is ridiculously good. I am excited for the whole episode. I agree with Mekales completely. More people need to see this. The interviews are awesome.","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 02:05"},{"nm":"Theo","rs":"0","ms":"Touching story, but the reason for this war is not mentioned in this documentary. Why do we fight? \nIt is very said to see American citizens fighting and dying, day after day, year after year, decades after decades for lies that the government has managed to spread from one administration to another.\n\nAl Qaeda is no longer in Afghanistan, that is what Petraeus said months ago. So why do American lives mean so little to the &quot;WE&quot; people in Washington, who neither will go to the war nor send their families to go and fight?\n\nGoogle &quot; The New American Century&quot; and you will find all the answers. This documentary is just a serious joke.","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 01:43"},{"nm":"J Lim","rs":"0","ms":"Except for its location, \'Obama\'s War\' is no different from all other war documentaries I\'ve seen many times before, be it WW II, Korea, Vietnam, or \'Bush\'s War\' in Iraq. It\'s not a first nor I believe will it be the last. It\'s just an update. We may disdain the atrocities of war with great horror, but we have to realize that war has been historically an integral part of American culture. (&quot;...your measure is not found in how much time you have on this earth, but what you do with the time that you have&quot; - Echo Company). It\'s a reality we have to live with before it ends us. Sad.","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 01:05"},{"nm":"Tango668","rs":"0","ms":"I’m looking forward to viewing this program.  After view your 24 minute preview, I was struck by the following impressions.  First, I wonder how capable a kinetic, kick-in-the-door Marine is at cultivating a relationship with an intimidated Afghan farmer.  It appears to me that who ever attempts to communicate with these people will not only need to know the language; but will also need volumes of patience.\n\nSecond, I think that patience is going to be the force multiplier that is essential for winning this war; not only for the soldiers and marines in the field, but for the American and Afghan general public.  The reason for this is because it takes TIME TO BUILD TRUST.  Therefore, we might not see the fruits of this ‘population-centric’ strategy for at least four to five years down the road.\n\nThird, it’s no mystery that America uses the metrics of casualties to measure the worth of its interventions. What I want to see and hear is how we’re going to sustain support for this new counter-insurgency strategy that advocates soldiers and marines engaging the enemy WITHOUT body armor.\n\nFinally, in order to conduct the new “protect the population” strategy, we’re going to need lots of troops.  In order to protect nearly 30 million Afghans, what is the magic number?  100,000?  200,000? 500,000?  And, how much of the above total[s] will the United States have to supply?\n","pt":"Oct  2, 2009 00:27"},{"nm":"Mitch Brown","rs":"0","ms":"What a terrific and heroic documentary. The footage is stunning and there is a classic documentary approach to telling a real story.  I found myself wondering if there will ever be a police station next to that market.  The war is winnable but the leadership needs to make a tough call.  I was a line doggie myself in the greater southeast asian wargames and I really felt sorry for the Marines.  These are the best assault troops in the world, not civic action guys.  The USMC should be unleashed to eliminate the Taliban just as they are trained to do.  Not to imply that civic action wouldn\'t be great.  A couple of guys with a Skil saw and some 2x4s and voila, the best market around.  Bottom line is we either go all the way or exit stage left now.  Ciao baby, let\'s have lunch.","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 23:12"},{"nm":"Joyce","rs":"0","ms":"Most Americans go about their daily living unaware of the intensity of the fighting, ignoring the fact that we are at war unless someone they know is wounded or dies.  I hope this program will help bring awareness to those people what is truly meant by war, the difficulties that our troops face and help them see just a little of what our troops go through while we go about our life each day.  Good job!!","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 22:51"},{"nm":"Jorge Ovalle","rs":"0","ms":"The first step of counter-insurgency: learn the language.\n\nIf that seems impossible, then so is the mission.\n\nHow can you hope to communicate to the locals that you are there to help and to stay if you don\'t even speak the language?","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 22:47"},{"nm":"YAHELKANAH","rs":"0","ms":"War is sickening and american hegemony, imperialism, white supremacy and racist behavior is truly an abomination to this planet.  The world does not give a &quot;hoot&quot; of the american-john wayne-hollywood macho nonsense bullying the people of the planet earth.  YAHOSHUA HA MASHIACH legally purchased humanity with HIS own blood; what is america (and its euro-allies) to enslave humanity in its manufactured globalized plantation it has managed to masquerade as the G8-nations.  This so called Judeo-Christian nation has trampled the SON of ELOHIM underfoot, rendered HIS blood a common thing and has insulted the SPIRIT OF GRACE;  what a dreadful and fearful thing it\'s going to be to fall under the hand of the MOST HIGH YAH (Hebrews 10:26-31).  Let the people of good conscience shout in one accord against such demonic, warmonger system birthed from the pit of hell. Repent america from your sordid sins of destruction while you have time.  Peace and Shalom,","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 22:12"},{"nm":"Lindsay","rs":"0","ms":"   As a wife of a marine is in several of these clips, I think it is great to show the public what is really going on over there. There are news stories and articles published everyday all over America and the majority have been consistently wrong, or &quot;sugar coated&quot;. Often, the media writes stories that were presented to them  by word-of-mouth.  So, I think it is wonderful that there is real footage, and that it will be on television for the public. \n       Although I think it\'s a great idea, hopefully PBS will do a little editing and take out the heart-wrenching scene of Seth\'s death.  It\'s an extremely hard thing to watch, especially for his family and as a friend. I\'ll be sure to warn his fiance. My husband was there with him through the entire thing, and I hope he doesn\'t accidentally come across this video one day and have to re-live that scene all over again.  Although I think the public needs to see the truth and what people (that are humans just like you and I) are going through.  And just a note: They signed the enlistment papers knowing with an idea of what they were getting into and still signed up. They have devoted their lives to the military way of life for you and I. All gave some, and some gave all. You may or may not support the war, but Please Support Our Troops.","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 22:10"},{"nm":"Maurice","rs":"0","ms":"Brutal reality...the unshaded truth of what really goes on. Remember the 1980\'s when Russia invaded? We may be doomed to repeat the same mistake. Fighting for the hearts and minds of the locals will be more difficult than the war itself. I felt as if we were back in Vietnam.","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 21:16"},{"nm":"Michele Bultje","rs":"0","ms":"My son, my hero, is part of Echo Company.  Thank you for honoring their work by sharing it with the American people.  This war is difficult to say the least.  America needs to see what our service men and women deal with on a daily basis.  They fight for each one of us back at home in the States.  Sleep tight, America, my Marine has got your back!  I ask that Americans unite in prayer more than ever before.  Semper Fi","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 20:58"},{"nm":"E Walker","rs":"0","ms":"Where is the trusted trade mark Frontline voice, the narrator?  Put him back.  This voice is too young to trust.  This change in voice indicates a change in Frontline as seen in the tabloid story regarding the state of Washington\'s politician.  It was too much like mainstream news, I stopped watching it.\n\nIn frustration, they were a little rude to the tribal elders.  They should have someone like a social worker with them.  They cannot not fight and be peace makers.  It is too hard to keep changing mind sets.  They are also very young.  They are too young to speak to elders in such a way.  Older cultures do not approve.  The disapproval was in the tribesmen’s faces.  Someone needs to be with them to carry out the task of helping the villagers.   We must remember they did not ask for our help.  \n","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 20:41"},{"nm":"Donna","rs":"0","ms":"Very interesting.  Thank you to the brave soul who walked in the soldiers\' shoes and filmed this.  So sad.  This war is going nowhere.","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 20:27"},{"nm":"Cam Chaplin","rs":"0","ms":"MY BF IS IN 2/8 ECHO COMPANY...AND THIS IS JUST WHAT I NEEDED TO SEE WHAT HAS REALLY BEEN GOING ON. I PRAY OUR TROOPS COME HOME SAFE!!","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 20:21"},{"nm":"Nazir ","rs":"0","ms":"What so called “World’s biggest military power” cannot fight a few hundred barefoot Taliban in a very smooth area in the south of Afghanistan. Shame on these TIMOROUS soldiers. Shame on NATO and other 40 countries in the ground. Russians easily conquered south and east of Afghanistan, but they were badly defeated in the north and central regions. What would have happened to you if the war was in the north or rugged mountains of central Afghanistan or Hindukush. Or what if the whole Afghan nation was not supporting you or what could have happened if they were fighting against you as they did against the Russians? ","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 19:25"},{"nm":"Gene","rs":"0","ms":"I was just asking my wife, when you all were going to report on Obama\'s War?\n\nAnd you all EVEN NAMED IT that, WOW\n\nI know this will be top-notch, as all of you peices have been about this, so called war on terror. (((as if we could ever have a war on a tactic, or an emotion,))).\n\nNo one wants to admit it, but we made a major mistake when we switched priorities to Iraq.\n\nI only hope it wasn\'t a fatal mistake.\n\nGood Job Frontline\n\nCheers !!!\nGene","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 19:19"},{"nm":"Lena Brooks","rs":"0","ms":"This program is going to be one of your best!  In the mere 25 minute preview, several hot topics were discussed.  I can\'t wait to see the program in it\'s entirety. I will also make sure to recommend this show to others. I foresee some lively debate around the water cooler.","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 18:38"},{"nm":"Denise Black","rs":"0","ms":"Excellent footage and commentary, though troubling to watch.  As well trained and well meaning as the Marines may be, the Taliban do not appear to be a problem that can be solved militarily.  We need more Greg Mortensens (&quot;Three Cups of Tea&quot;).  Give him the military budget.  I am sending the link to this preview to people I know.","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 18:19"},{"nm":"Loren Stanton","rs":"0","ms":"The task set before the marines is impossible. Even if there were 200,000 more fully equipped marines with 10,000 translators and 10,000 social workers with PHDs they could not win this war. I was totally struck by the failure to communicate and the word choices of the marines and the frustration levels. The comments by the locals were right on: They have nothing how can they fight the Taliban? How can they assist the Marines/USA? Not at all.","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 17:49"},{"nm":"Mekales","rs":"0","ms":"Whether FOR this war or NOT, this should be shown in every high school, college and prime-time network.We have become numb to the &quot;words of war&quot; after nine years. This brings back the reality and humanity of a real-life nightmare for these young soldiers and civilians in harm\'s way.","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 17:08"},{"nm":"Wundermaus","rs":"0","ms":"Can you say quagmire? Say it: ˈkwag-ˌmī(-ə)r \nAlso see: Vietnam","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 16:43"},{"nm":"Gary Peterson","rs":"0","ms":"Amazing coverage and footage. I wish there was a way to make this program mandatory viewing for every American citizen and politician…","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 16:27"},{"nm":"Tamsen Merrill","rs":"0","ms":"I could not do what those soldiers are being asked to do. As I watched on my home screen, every time a Taliban shot was fired I literally ducked under the table.\n\nThis is an impossible task. ","pt":"Oct  1, 2009 14:09"}]}); });