Last night there were two documentaries on TV. The Discovery Channel special and the CNN special. I only caught part of the Discovery Channel special but watched the one on CNN. The narrator was a woman from the UK who went to Afganistan, her father's homeland, to invesitgate the current ruling party. At times she went into areas undercover and at other times she interviewed folks openly as a foreigner. All in all it was a very sobering film.
The footage that made the biggest impact was the leader of the Taliban calling their execution yards a joyful place. It would appear that the international community donated a football (soccer) field to the Afgans to lift their spirits after the war with Russia. Instead, the Taliban took it over and turned it into a death camp. Goal posts were turned into gallows. Women were executed, shot throught the head, while lined up on the goal line. Meanwhile their executioners were literally whooping it up as if it were a rodeo show. When asked why they turned an entertainment center into an execution center the reply was: "Entertainment is to bring joy. The justice taken out on the football field also brings joy." When asked why they don't stop the reply was "the international community should donate a suitable execution ground, then soccer could be played in the stadium." Widows and their children are starved because they will be shot if they try to work. Women are not allowed to go to hospitals. Anything man made, buildings and gardens were destroyed. The list went on.
After watching the film, I feel deep sorrow for the Afgan people but an even stronger belief that the Taliban needs to be dismantled in whatever way possible.
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