Oct 14 2009

Frontline: Obama’s War

PBS Frontline:

In Obama’s War, veteran correspondent Martin Smith travels across Afghanistan and Pakistan to see first-hand how the president’s new strategy is taking shape, delivering vivid, on-the-ground reporting from this eight-year-old war’s many fronts. Through interviews with top generals, diplomats and government officials, Smith also reports the internal debates over President Obama’s grand attempt to combat terrorism at its roots.

“What we found on the ground was a huge exercise in nation building,” says Smith. “The concept’s become a bit of a dirty word, but that’s what this is. We started with the goal of eliminating Al Qaeda, and now we’ve wound up with the immense task of re-engineering two nations.”

In Obama’s War, veteran correspondent Martin Smith travels across Afghanistan and Pakistan to see first-hand how the president’s new strategy is taking shape, delivering vivid, on-the-ground reporting from this eight-year-old war’s many fronts. Through interviews with top generals, diplomats and government officials, Smith also reports the internal debates over President Obama’s grand attempt to combat terrorism at its roots.

This is a 25 minute preview of the full program that was apparently scheduled to air October 13, and was scheduled to be available for online viewing here, but perhaps there has been a delay in that, as I do not see any video online there. CORRECTION: It is there but may only be viewable with IE, as I cannot see it there using FireFox 3.

32 comments

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    • Edger on October 14, 2009 at 23:55
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    or empire destroying?

  2. illusion that is our supposed foreign policy.  As soon as I heard about this program, I knew I wouldn’t watch it because it all it does it talk about how we’re going to get, tame or control terrorists.  That’s not why we’re there.  They say we originally went in to get al Qaeda, but now we’re nation building.  Bullshit.  We went in for nation building, regime change, hegemonic control right from the git go.  When will the conversation change from those terrorists to the ones we have in our government and thinktanks.  

  3. and just because I find this funny:

  4. For what?

    Seriously.

    For what?

  5. …please turn off the auto pilot!

    • Edger on October 15, 2009 at 14:17
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    …a report on BBC’s Newsnight in the UK that aired Wednesday said the Obama administration has already made the decision to send 45,000 more troops to Afghanistan, which would amount to 5,000 more than Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of forces in Afghanistan, has reportedly asked for.

    The Newsnight report appears to be based on sources inside the British government, who say the UK has already been notified of the US’s intentions. Newsnight’s defense issues editor, Mark Urban, posted on his blog that the BBC report is based on “usually impeccable sources.”

    The government of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown appears to believe that troop strength increases are where the Afghanistan strategy is headed. On Wednesday, it announced the UK would be sending 500 additional troops to Afghanistan.

    — UK media: McChrystal will get his troop surge, RawStory

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