• Listen to the entire program

Support KPFK – Make a pledge at 818-985-5735, or online at www.kpfk.org.

Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror

While the US’s operation in Iraq is deteriorating every day, so is the US’s other war – the one where 28,000 US troops are serving – Afghanistan. Today we spend the hour on Afghanistan, a country often forgotten by the mainstream media and the antiwar movement, much to the delight of Congress and the White House. This year alone over 100 Afghan civilians were killed as a direct result of US/NATO operations. Two women journalists were killed within the past two weeks, and an outspoken member of Parliament was suspended for criticizing US-backed warlords.

But how did it all start? While we often think of the US war in Afghanistan as having started after 9/11, in fact, it goes much further back. In a documentary by award winning film maker and journalist, John Pilger, we’ll learn today how Afghanistan’s current problems have its roots in the Cold War and US-sponsored Jihad. “Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror” was a film that was shown in Britain and many parts of the world, but not here in the United States, where it needed to be viewed more so than any where else. It is a film that exposes the past and present wars in Afghanistan and shows how the Bush administration laid the groundwork for the Iraq war. Pilger conducted interviews with leading conservatives including William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, Douglas Feith, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and John Bolton, then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.

View From a Grain of Sand

An excellent companion documentary to Pilger’s work is a new film by Los Angeles based film maker, Meena Nanji, who we’ve interviewed on Uprising. It’s a political history of Afghanistan told through verite footage, and the life stories of three Afghan women, Shapiray, a teacher, Roeena, a doctor, and Wajia, a political activist. In my opinion, the best political documentary on Afghanistan today, View from a Grain of Sand powerfully lays bare the US’s so-called liberation of Afghan women and the “war on terror.” The LA Weekly calls the documentary, “gripping… Nanji narrates this history with clarity and passion … an insightful, often heart-wrenching account of trauma, war and rights abuses…”

Thank you Gifts:

Freedom Next Time: Resisting the Empire – Book – $85
Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror – DVD – $100
View from a Grain of Sand – DVD – $100
Breaking the Silence on Afghanistan 2 DVD Combo Pack (includes both DVDs above) – $150
Best of Uprising – MP3 CD – $35
Uprising T-shirts – $60