Rethink Afghanistan (2009) – Dec, 16, 2009
The Canadian government, representing all of us, has sent troops to Afghanistan. We have been told that the mission there is to help the Afghan people. American filmmaker Robert Greenwald (“Outfoxed”, “Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price”, “Iraq For Sale”) decided to find out if the situation in Afghanistan after 8 years has indeed improved. The result of his own mission is the film “Rethink Afghanistan”. This feature-length documentary, completed in September of this year, will be screened on December 16 by Sooke’s Awareness Film Night. Dr. Keith Martin, Esquimalt/Juan deFuca M.P., will be attending the screening and participating in a post screening discussion with filmgoers.
“Rethink Afghanistan” features interviews with Afghan civilians and women’s groups, former CIA operatives, journalists, U.S. veterans and policy experts. After exploring issues such as “cost of war”, “Pakistan”, “security”, “women in Afghanistan”, the film concludes with a segment called “solutions” which provides some common sense stories of people who are doing what is really needed in Afghanistan, now considered to be the third poorest nation in the world.
As the call to escalate the number of troops in Afghanistan rings out, it is time to consider the consequences of maintaining a military presence in a country that has mired and broken armies consistently throughout history. “Rethink Afghanistan” shatters many of the media-supported myths and documents the reality of the military engagement in Afghanistan. And, in a notable instance of democracy at work, there will be an opportunity to dialogue with our elected representative to Ottawa, Dr. Keith Martin, after the screening. Showtime is 7 p.m. in the Edward Milne Community School theatre. Admission is by donation. Proceeds to go to RAWA, an organization of Afghan women that has been working for peace, freedom, democracy and women’s rights since 1977.
