posted on Sep, 25 2006 @ 12:41 PM
I've been thinking of posting this video months ago, though I didn't as it was recorded in Dutch. However, since it's nominated for an Emmy Award
now they have now uploaded a complete English version.
Click on the link
Then:
Watch here the ENGLISH version of the report
I've seen it myself a year ago while studying there. It might be interesting to some of you to watch it, as it gives a clear picture of what the
coalition troops are doing, experiencing there, what they have to cope with and how the Taliban operates.
My question is whether such footages are also shown in the US. In the country I come from and most other European countries such footages are common.
You might find my question strange, but from what I know about US television, there's a lot of propaganda on American television, especially when it
comes to military related issues and the campaigns for Presidentship, which is seriously completely different from European television I've seen.
I tried to translate the Dutch commentary in English:
NOVA report Tom Kleijn and cameraman Joris Hentenaar were two and a halve week embedded to an American unit, which was hunting for Taliban
militants in an extensive and mountainous area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
We traveled with American military transport units, such as Hercules aircrafts and Chinook helicopters, via Kabul to a major American base in Kandshar
province, from which we went to a front line post in the hills. When we arrived there, we joined a squad that would be dropped in the mountains, an
area where Dutch and American commandos are working together.
Kleijn and Hentenaar stayed five days and four nights, by foot, from village to village, from door to door. Kleijn: the area is inhospitable and
almost totally isolated. That means, walking for hours with our gear (bullet proof vests, helmets, backpacks filled with food and water), both in the
day and night time.
On the way we encountered a short fire fight, which eventually led to the elimination of possible Taliban militants, whom from great distance were
hiding in a cave.
Furthermore, two men were taken as prisoners of war, blinded, and transported with the helicopter back to the basis. It’s the first time that two
Dutch journalists joined a unit in Eastern Afghanistan. Kleijn: ‘’Because we traveled with them the entire period, we could really get close to
what they were experiencing. Things they explain are e.g. the accomplishments of their work, how it feels to kill other human beings and how they see
their enemies.
This television show produced many other footages of both Dutch and American operations in Afghanistan/Iraq, unfortunately they are in Dutch. I
might be able to translate some of them later on.
[edit on 25-9-2006 by Mdv2]