The War Briefing

(SBS television documentary, screened 4 November 2008, 10 pm Adelaide time)

I watched this program by chance, and was compelled by the chilling portrayal of the ‘forgotten’ war, mainly being carried out by US troops in Afghanistan.

Although Iraq is the main recent US conflict that the media has focused on, the Taliban in Afghanistan is a far more intractable foe, mainly because of the symbiotic nature that organisation has with the inhabitants.

Several military advisers stated that without significant more troops, resources and time, it is a war that simply cannot be won, and this was made painfully apparent with images of soldiers being pinned down by enemy bombardments in the mountains.

A visit to one village resulted in a meeting in which only a few elders were present (the younger men suspiciously away apart from one, who it was hypothesised remained to ensure none of the older men co-operated too fully with the US soldiers).

While a documentary of this nature could never be said to be entirely unbiased, and the point of the US as an invading force has been made elsewhere several times, my heart went out to the young American soldiers who had already lost two of their number that month, surviving constant shelling and traversing deadly quiet mountains where the bullet that kills you can come from anywhere.

As a media issue, Vietnam was the first war extensively covered by media on the ground, then we had the 24-hour coverage of the Gulf War. Who decides what war is newsworthy? Some would say the public, and this is partly true, but ultimately it's owners of media publications, big business (that sponsors advertising) and governments (look at China!).

More media attention on Afghanistan, whatever people might say about propaganda, can only be a good thing to try and shed some sort of understanding on this terrible situation.