01:12 F.O.B Ripley, Tarin Kowt In the run up to the controversial Presidential elections, there is an increasing urgency to improve the security situation in Afghanistan.
01:25 Marines at shooting range
The U.S. marines have been deployed in the remote region of Uruzgan and their mission has been extended in an effort to secure one of the most troubled parts of the country.
01:34 Marines & Lt Col Khan This central province is believed to be an anti coalition militia hot bed.
Lt Col Khan, who was born in Pakistan, is leading Operation Thunder Road.
01:55 Lt Col Khan USMC “The taliban’s goal is to disrupt the elections, their goal is to disrupt the lifestyle, their goal is to not give these people any choices, their goal is to spread hatred, their goal is to burn down schools.
Our aim is to give the people some choices, give some degree of security, follow up with some civil affairs projects in here, give the people the basic necessity for survival and give them choices in life that you and I are used to back home”
02:20 Lt Col Khan USMC
Rockwall Briefing “There are five words that I want you to remember and keep telling that to your marines. Gain and maintain. Find, fix and finish. We have to be…as soon as we find, fix and finish, we fight to win.
The enemy sits on these ridgelines and he’s sitting in it just like a vulture and he knows time is on his side. He knows the terrain is harsh, he knows we can’t operate in this terrain so he is looking for vulnerabilities, just like a vulture is.”
02:45 Road
Humvees
Marines
IEDs
Weapons cache In a country that continues to be fraught with violence, this is an increasingly complicated task.
As 900 hundred marines set off on the two week operation, there is a threat of improvised explosive devices on the roads. In a village, a huge weapons cache is discovered behind a false wall.
03:09 Entering house But the most difficult task is gaining the trust of the local villagers. As houses are searched, the people are confused.
03:22 Old man in village “I swear that there is nothing in the house.
You can search it, there is nothing!
We are poor people, we have nothing! As a Muslim, I swear that I have not seen the Taliban. They were beating us here! You are better than the Taliban.”
03:50 Old man in village “This is my nephew’s house. They are poor people. There is no one here.”
04:03 Marines in village After so many years of conflict, it is clearly difficult for the villagers to believe that their lives could improve.
In the fields, the women hide in fear.
04:16 Old woman in village “We don’t know anything. We are crying, the children are scared. We don’t know anything. We are frightened.”
04:58 Knocking down door
Searching women
Detaining men As the women are searched by female marines, all the men in the village are detained for questioning.
05:11 Marine Merrida “Tell them don’t bs me, I know the frigging Taliban is moving in this direction, we need to know where and how many!”
05:32 Marine counting detainees
Detainees walking away “47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 ,53 54…54!”
05:47 Lt Col Khan, USMC “Military solutions are easy. Now that’s a conventional fight or a guerilla fight and we can certainly handle that but how do you change a person’s mind that is living in these remote areas?
The only way you can do that is coming over to these remote areas, spending some time with them, sit down and talk to them.”
06:06 Lt Col Khan talks to detainees “As a Muslim I tell them Taliban is giving Islam a bad name throughout the world. They claim to be Muslims but they are not …and it is destroying Afghanistan.
President Karzai and everybody else is trying to build Afghanistan to make their lives better…and I don’t know in their hearts if they are Taliban or not but as a Haaji, I tell them it is wrong! And we don’t need to destroy Afghanistan anymore, we need to build it again”
06:45 Governor Jan Mohammad with detainees The provincial governor Jan Mohammad is also working with the coalition forces.
06:50 Governor Jan Mohammad “We are here with the peace keepers to bring down the bad people in the mountains so that we can build our country. We need to catch the bad people, then we can rebuild Afghanistan.”
07:32 Governor Jan Mohammad talks to detainees “Are there any Taliban here? I will take the Taliban with me.
They are not the people who will rebuild this country, they want to destroy it.
How long will our country be destroyed by these people? We must stop this!”
08:18 Marines searching & detaining
Afghanistan is a continuous struggle. As the battle field changes dramatically, all sides are fighting a slow war of attrition.
08:30 Lt Col Khan USMC “I certainly hope that it doesn’t take 15 years and that Afghanistan pretty soon will stand up on its feet and start taking care of its own problems, providing its own security and Taliban will disappear from the scene.”
08:48 Helicopter
Humvees in river
Aerial shots Ultimately, the success of this operation and others like it, will be measured by the number of people who vote.
The harsh terrain and insurgent activity make it extremely difficult to provide the Afghan people with the freedom to exercise their constitutional rights.
09:14 END
01:25 Marines at shooting range
The U.S. marines have been deployed in the remote region of Uruzgan and their mission has been extended in an effort to secure one of the most troubled parts of the country.
01:34 Marines & Lt Col Khan This central province is believed to be an anti coalition militia hot bed.
Lt Col Khan, who was born in Pakistan, is leading Operation Thunder Road.
01:55 Lt Col Khan USMC “The taliban’s goal is to disrupt the elections, their goal is to disrupt the lifestyle, their goal is to not give these people any choices, their goal is to spread hatred, their goal is to burn down schools.
Our aim is to give the people some choices, give some degree of security, follow up with some civil affairs projects in here, give the people the basic necessity for survival and give them choices in life that you and I are used to back home”
02:20 Lt Col Khan USMC
Rockwall Briefing “There are five words that I want you to remember and keep telling that to your marines. Gain and maintain. Find, fix and finish. We have to be…as soon as we find, fix and finish, we fight to win.
The enemy sits on these ridgelines and he’s sitting in it just like a vulture and he knows time is on his side. He knows the terrain is harsh, he knows we can’t operate in this terrain so he is looking for vulnerabilities, just like a vulture is.”
02:45 Road
Humvees
Marines
IEDs
Weapons cache In a country that continues to be fraught with violence, this is an increasingly complicated task.
As 900 hundred marines set off on the two week operation, there is a threat of improvised explosive devices on the roads. In a village, a huge weapons cache is discovered behind a false wall.
03:09 Entering house But the most difficult task is gaining the trust of the local villagers. As houses are searched, the people are confused.
03:22 Old man in village “I swear that there is nothing in the house.
You can search it, there is nothing!
We are poor people, we have nothing! As a Muslim, I swear that I have not seen the Taliban. They were beating us here! You are better than the Taliban.”
03:50 Old man in village “This is my nephew’s house. They are poor people. There is no one here.”
04:03 Marines in village After so many years of conflict, it is clearly difficult for the villagers to believe that their lives could improve.
In the fields, the women hide in fear.
04:16 Old woman in village “We don’t know anything. We are crying, the children are scared. We don’t know anything. We are frightened.”
04:58 Knocking down door
Searching women
Detaining men As the women are searched by female marines, all the men in the village are detained for questioning.
05:11 Marine Merrida “Tell them don’t bs me, I know the frigging Taliban is moving in this direction, we need to know where and how many!”
05:32 Marine counting detainees
Detainees walking away “47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 ,53 54…54!”
05:47 Lt Col Khan, USMC “Military solutions are easy. Now that’s a conventional fight or a guerilla fight and we can certainly handle that but how do you change a person’s mind that is living in these remote areas?
The only way you can do that is coming over to these remote areas, spending some time with them, sit down and talk to them.”
06:06 Lt Col Khan talks to detainees “As a Muslim I tell them Taliban is giving Islam a bad name throughout the world. They claim to be Muslims but they are not …and it is destroying Afghanistan.
President Karzai and everybody else is trying to build Afghanistan to make their lives better…and I don’t know in their hearts if they are Taliban or not but as a Haaji, I tell them it is wrong! And we don’t need to destroy Afghanistan anymore, we need to build it again”
06:45 Governor Jan Mohammad with detainees The provincial governor Jan Mohammad is also working with the coalition forces.
06:50 Governor Jan Mohammad “We are here with the peace keepers to bring down the bad people in the mountains so that we can build our country. We need to catch the bad people, then we can rebuild Afghanistan.”
07:32 Governor Jan Mohammad talks to detainees “Are there any Taliban here? I will take the Taliban with me.
They are not the people who will rebuild this country, they want to destroy it.
How long will our country be destroyed by these people? We must stop this!”
08:18 Marines searching & detaining
Afghanistan is a continuous struggle. As the battle field changes dramatically, all sides are fighting a slow war of attrition.
08:30 Lt Col Khan USMC “I certainly hope that it doesn’t take 15 years and that Afghanistan pretty soon will stand up on its feet and start taking care of its own problems, providing its own security and Taliban will disappear from the scene.”
08:48 Helicopter
Humvees in river
Aerial shots Ultimately, the success of this operation and others like it, will be measured by the number of people who vote.
The harsh terrain and insurgent activity make it extremely difficult to provide the Afghan people with the freedom to exercise their constitutional rights.
09:14 END