Afghanistan Script Text Card: As NATO combat operations cease in Afghanistan, the Afghan National Army struggles to control a tumultuous land. Text Card: Helmand Province Southern Helmand “Say your prayers in the mosque.” “Ask God for forgiveness.” “Ask for help, ask for peace!” “More than anything, pray for peace.” “That peace may come to Afghanistan, my dear brothers” “and we may become an independent, free, strong and powerful army” “capable of protecting our nation and our people.” “In 2014, our foreign colleagues will be leaving Afghanistan.” ” As you can see, all of the responsibility will then fall on our shoulders.” “Pray that we may be capable of defending our nation, our land, our children.” “That we may protect the orphans, widows, oppressed, the fearful and the hopeless.” “We must have such an army.” Text Card: Captain Jalaluddin. Did you understand? Pay very good attention. “You might have been on a lot of missions before, but not like this one.” “Look, between these compounds is an Afghan Local Police (A.L.P.) checkpoint.” “This map is small - you may not be able to see it very well.” “There’s a guy firing on our position from this A.L.P. post.” “Who here’s been based up at Shaheen II? You?” “Commander, there are two guys named Ismat and Khalil.” “They’re the ones firing at the army checkpoint.” “We’ll start at this checkpoint and talk to their commander first.” “And Tawakal, you’ll be on the other side of the river covering us with the .50-cal.” “When dealing with these local police,” “we need to be really careful.” “We don’t want to get ourselves into a situation if they kick off.” “If they start shooting in there, then we won’t be able to do anything.” Greeting “Would you like to drink tea?” “No thank you.” Text Card: Captain Jalaluddin visits an Afghan Local Police checkpoint. Text Card: The Afghan Army widely distrusts the A.L.P., and Jalaluddin suspects the police here of cooperating with insurgents. “Are you national or local police?” “Local.” “What’s your name? ” “Ghulam Shah.” “Ahmed Shah.” “Do you have police ID?” “No, we’re new here. We haven’t been given ID yet.” “How many guys are in this post?” “You’re the cook here, so how many guys do you cook for?” “Ten guys...” “Who’s in charge here right now?” “This guy? What’s your name? ” “Darweza.” “Darweza... O.K....” “Right. If I speak in Farsi will you understand?” “No, I don’t understand Farsi.” “All right, fine, you translate.” “Tell this Darwaze guy” “that from your guard tower over there, night after night,” “there’s firing onto our army base over there.” “From this checkpoint?” “From this checkpoint of yours here.” “It’s up to you to find out who’s doing the firing.” “But tell him that if this continues, the next time we come back,” “we’ll kill all 10 of you and throw you all in the river there.” “If you want to complain to the district commander, we couldn’t care less.” “This time we came here to tell you nicely.” “The next time we come here, it’ll be like this:” “We’ll be right up in your faces.” “You better listen to that real good. Tell him.” “He’s saying his base is getting fired on from our tower.” “I see...” “And he says if it happens again, they’re gonna come back” “and roll us all up and throw our bodies in the canal.” “Where’s that army base he’s talking about?” “That base over there.” “That’s the other post shooting, not us. We don’t fire in that direction.” “No, it’s this one.” “They’re firing on my guys from that tower.” “He’s saying that it’s coming from our tower.” “Yeah, they all told me that the firing is coming from this police checkpoint.” “Who’s this here?” “Ismat.” “Where’s he from?” “His house is just over there, next to the checkpoint there.” “On that side of the canal. He’s working in that checkpoint.” “Now he’s here, in this checkpoint.” “So why didn’t you mention him earlier if he’s in this checkpoint?” “I just didn’t... “You didn’t mention anyone called Ismat did you?” “Give me your police ID.” “Before, you told me there were 10 guys here.” “Now with this guy that makes 11.” “Why did you say you were 10 guys, and here we have an 11th all of a sudden?” “Why are you lying to us?” “Alright, I’m taking him with me, let’s go.” “Hey, it’s our enemies that are telling you we’re firing on your base!” “It’s them, not us!” “Commander, sir! Where are you taking him?” “If we say the Taliban is like a tree,” “the Americans are cutting off the branches in order to kill the tree.” “But the roots of the tree have water, and remain untouched and will regrow,” “and America’s efforts are useless.” “If America or the U.N. wanted to bring peace to Afghanistan,” “they could do it very easily.” “They just need to put pressure on Pakistan.” “We should defend our country.” “We should create our government ourselves.” “This is what we want,” “but 2014 is not the time for the international community” “to abandon the people and the nation of Afghanistan.” CREDITS Directed by Saeed Taji Farouky & Michael McEvoy Producer Elizabeth C. Jones0 Composer Joe Lewis Director of Photography Saeed Taji Farouky Editor Gareth Keogh Location Sound Recording & Additional Camera Michael McEvoy Sound Mix Joe Lewis Color Correction Gareth Keogh Production Manager Ellie Davis Special Thanks Robert Elliott Scott Brown