I have often wondered, after spending two years living in London, what would happen here if the U.S. had a real, functioning news media that did its job, the way the U.K. does.
Watching coverage of the Iraq War from over there was a totally different experience from watching "coverage" from U.S. outlets. I felt like I was really seeing it--what was happening to our soldiers, what was happening to civilians in their everyday lives.
I still check in with the Guardian from time to time, and today was blown away by a 15-minute video posted on their "front page" today showing what's happening in Afghanistan, from the the perspective of the U.S. Marines on the front lines there.
This video is a brutal, real, graphic look at what is happening in Afghanistan right now--exactly what our forces are up against.
I have actually defended the mission in Afghanistan on this site--I always thought that, unlike the fabricated "mission" in Iraq, it actually had some relation to our national security. Al-Qaeda was given a safe haven there, and the Taliban was harboring them and refused to turn them over. I still believe we had a legitimate purpose in going in there. But you know what? Al-Qaeda has fled, and the Taliban were duly "punished." What is going on now is an endless battle with an insurgency that exists and is gaining strength because we are there.
In any case--I wanted to publish the link to the video here (I hope that is allowed--if not, let me know, ad I will delete immediately) because it is something that needs a wider audience. If we had this kind of coverage of the war in Afghanistan over here, showing the cost of the mission as well as its seeming futility, I really believe that there wouldn't BE a war in Afghanistan.
Here is the link (WARNING: contains graphic and disturbing images):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
P.S. By calling the mission futile, I mean that it is obviously a never-ending one. I don't mean to take away from the excellence of the job the troops are doing. Anyone watching this will be immediately impressed with the courage, professionalism, and tenacity of our Marines. But putting them there to engage with an insurgency that is bound by no rules of conventional warfare is setting them up to fail. They deserve better. (And in case you were wondering, 50 degrees Celsius is 122 degrees Fahrenheit.)