READER COMMENTS: "'A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan'"

Posted by mike merlo at July 22, 2013 11:52 PM ET:

thanks for Posting 'this'

Posted by Shah at July 23, 2013 12:37 AM ET:

Masoud was a factional leader of Mujahedin, not of all Mujahedin. The documentary is biased, presenting the belief of a warlord himself, who was in hide outs through out the war. Real Heroes died in War and they defeated the Russians, not a so called thug who stole people's right to live from them, just to make his way to palace and his moments in palace didn't even last long. Mujahedin's and Taliban destroyed us in 1990s and also past one decade. One is corrupted and the other is savage. Both deprives us from our rights so what's the difference between, or is the difference line drawn based on western favoritism.

Posted by Baktash at July 23, 2013 3:45 PM ET:

Why is this video so focused on Masoud? It is the same racist fanatic who caused the most troubles to Afghans like those of Hekmatyar, taliban and other cowards.

Posted by Hameed at July 23, 2013 5:02 PM ET:

Video is extremely narrowed and focused from a minority view. It is a true that Masoud participated in Soviet war as a very successful leader, however, saying that his group was the only group that sacrificed
is not true at all. His group was a part of total, not a total itself in broader view.

Posted by Paul Avallone at July 24, 2013 2:30 AM ET:

Thank you for posting this documentary and making it available. Forget the political angle of it, one can argue those points day-in-and-day-out; for the photography alone this is worth watching. I say that as a photojournalist who spent nearly three years in Afghanistan (in various capacities, including US Spec Ops in the first years, and including embedded journalist). I salute the photography here. I would have liked to call most of it mine. You can see my bona fides here: http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/1251/Avallone-Flirting-with-Afghanistan-1.aspx

Posted by Bashir Ahmad Sharifi at July 24, 2013 9:04 AM ET:

The West and especially France have colonial views and intentions all the time. As far what I know that this Massoud was a reputed smuggler for Afghan precious stones and gyms to France, Whereas, most of his photos were taken by a French photographer posing him as Che Guiverra, which is never true.

Posted by Ahmad Fawad at July 24, 2013 5:34 PM ET:

Great job for producing and posting this documentary and making it available for the world.

Posted by Moose at July 24, 2013 11:43 PM ET:

The reason Massoud is featured so prominently is b/c he's the only one who commands enough respect to be remembered as a hero. The others like Hekmatyar and Younus Khalis were Pakistan's murdering thugs who fought the Soviets for their own personal gain.

I love how the director sugarcoats the brutality of animal fighting in Afghanistan at the end. Those animals DO get hurt. We condemn people like Michael Vick over here, but when it's over there it needs to be "understood." I can't stand Orientalists.

Ms. Dupree, the wife of noted Afghan scholar Louis Dupree (another Orientalist), seems to think we aren't very good at nation-building. Perhaps she should ask Germany and Japan what they think. What's missing is accountability on the part of Afghans. That's what you'll never hear from Orientalists who go to these countries like they're going to the zoo.

Btw, the anti-Soviet campaign was mutually beneficial for both the U.S. and Afghanistan (I seem to remember them and the Pakis begging us for weapons like the FSA is today in Syria). We had no obligation to them beyond that. Vietnam got messed up just as bad. Did they fly planes into buildings? The military commander interviewed is right, we can't do it all for them.