Really Interesting Short Documentary! "Taliban: Behind the Masks"

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkk5HMwCCQE

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On4OE9Ikb4U&feature=related

Interview with Refsdal: http://www.viceland.com/blogs/en/2011/01/24/paul-refsdal/

This two part documentary, Taliban: Behind the Masks, that I found on youtube was shot by a Norwegian journalist named Paul Refsdal. He planned to embed with the Taliban for a month, but his trip was cut short to nine days due to a US coalition attack. A few weeks later, Refsdal was kidnapped by one of the Taliban commanders with whom he had embedded, but was released due to pressure from another Taliban commander and from Pakistani forces.

The second half of this documentary is especially interesting, as it shows many aspects of Taliban lifestyle: praying, playing, family(children), fighting/shooting, etc.

The video also juxtaposes images to blur the "good guy-bad guy" lines of the War. For example, the end of the first video shows Taliban commander Dawran with his two children (very cute), but the documentary ends with a US coalition attack on Dawran's home that leaves him alive but his two children dead.

If you think the video is super interesting (as I did), I would suggest to also read the interview with Refsdal that I posted above.

Here is a video from CNN and an article from NY Times that offer two different opinions from Afghans on the opium problem in Afghanistan. The CNN video shows Afghans destroying an poppy crop because they fear the money it will bring in for the insurgency. The NY Times article shows how much Afghans dislike U.S. soldiers moving to poppy-growing provinces in order to stop the Talibans influx of drug money.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/world/asia/29afghan.html?pagewanted=1&ref=opium

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/21/afghanistan.opium/index.html?iref=allsearch

Taliban Guerilla Warfare

Here's an article from the BBC about the Taliban's new tactics shows how helpless the Afghan military is when fighting the Taliban.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13589764

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

Here's an article from CNN that points out how deep our involvement in Pakistan is and states the huge effects our departure would have on both nations. I think this bolsters Hoh's argument for the United States to become an arbiter in the region because the article points out the tensions that have formed between the two nations.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/01/opinion/bergen-pakistan-us-crisis/index.html?iref=allsearch