Août 2021 - Fuir Kaboul

Bon film !

source: Escape from Kabul

This brought tears to my eyes, I felt for the civilians of Afghanistan and the many people who lost their lives trying to flee a tyranny and imperialist society where they would live in constant fear. But truth be told, no one was prepared for such an event to occur especially in a matter of hours. I cannot fathom what not only the civilians but also the American soldiers went through and the emotional and mental toll that it had taken on them. And I cannot use the words I want to use on the cowards that used a car bomb just to initiate chaos and fear in an already chaotic situation. This is one of those situations where I'm saddened to be a human being. Definitely a must watch but hard to watch if one has any semblance of a soul or heart.

Very honest account of how things unfolded when the US left Afghanistan. You can see the desperation of the people trying to flee, many times costing them their life. The conditions outside the gates were horrific. The summit of all that was the blast from a suicide bomber or ied that killed 13 US personnel and 170 afghans that basically ended all entering activities at the gates. A caveat of this documentary is that it falls short because it doesn't show anything about the retaliatory attack from the US government via drone to a NGO vehicle filled with children and water that had nothing to do with ISIS. That should be included too because it was directly related to the incidents shown in this film.

Its a good doc... worth watching... but slight BS at the end... it does not state that days later the airport was open again and 30 days later it was working better than under US control... it makes it seem this was all justified.. a few comments about the Tali being bad... the truth is it was all unnecessary, panic. Just mad bad and sad. It shows the US in truth as brave, trying hard and human.. but also ignorant fearful and badly managed.. they dont seem to understand what is happening & yet its a mess they caused.. the human side is horrific and in fact just touches the tip of the reality.... this is a good access point.. but further education would be required..... the US is at times at its best; kind, Human and proffessional.. but mostly at its worse. The real victims on show here were the the poor people in the queues of death and those Marines that witnessed it.

Interesting. Afghanistan is in part of the world that is never at peace. It is sad armies go there to die. But this doesn't touch on is the incredible ineptness of our political leadership. It is almost like they set up our military to fail. They put them in an untenable situation, with limited resources, and effective rules of engagement driven by politics not by war time necessity. And then the dying starts both military and civilian. This gave a lot of latitude the piece of garbage Taliban. Then again it is HBO with a left-leaning business model. Make no mistake, the Taliban and Isis are monsters of evil. That is exactly why all of those people, thousands upon thousands were trying to escape the country. This is a clear example of how these places will remain Third World countries in a time of unprecedented modern technology everywhere. Tough situation. I could care less about the Taliban, but I feel so bad for the Marines who had to deal with this untenable situation. And our politicians stood back and did nothing.

Afghanistan, a place, a land, a country, which perhaps will never remain under the control of anyone, as in the past most likely in the future too. This land has seen bloodshed more then any place in the world. Kabul today is there's, tomorrow someone else. The fight, the battles will go on, sadly. Taliban, it was expected that they perhaps this time would be different then the ones in 90's, some might are, but the majority of these people are illiterate and not in knowledge of modern or Islamic teachings. They were filled with hate, they were taught all inhumane act(s) they can carry out and there is only principle to rule is through fear. There are many stories, in these last days, especially, not covered in this documentary. How the top leadership fled through the same airport carrying billions. How the so called trained Afghan forces just fell like a house of cards. It shows that the American achieved nothing but failure in the last 20 years. There were many other airlines, who out of their heroics help fleeing people out of Kabul, the documentary remains untouched over that part. Though it has shown some events and it will touch you. Freedom always has a price. Always will have a price.

The pain and suffering the people of Kabul went through because the United States government decided to rush an exit without talking to the people of Afghanistan, nor the militaries of the other countries there, is crazy. Not only did they put these people through hell, they didn't bother to equipped their own soldiers with an actual workable plan. Its really hard to feel sorry for the US soldiers when they talk about what they went through, and how it has affected them, when their stories are overlaid with the same soldiers shooting into the crowds and throwing gas canisters at children and their desperate mothers. They shouldn't have been put in the position their were in unless they knew what they were doing, which they clearly didn't. This whole operation should have been handled much better than it was. Its a truly shocking documentary, everyone show watch it.

I actually found this to be an extremely numbed down depiction of events.... but considering its on liberal leftist HBO im not suprised. What about all the babies that ended up being crowd floated into razor wire? What about the 4 busloads of refugees that had already been vetted by American Volunteers that were there trying to rescue our allies that a Marine Lt Col turned away? 4 bus loads of families, already in the gates and he sent them out to the Tali! Left out that it was a State Department operation Left out that the Biden Administration is directly responsible for the chaos which could have been avoided. Tim Kennedy's account of these events portays a much darker and accurate first hand story that went on there. He says it was The Taliban that were spraying bullets into crowds to do crowd control, all day every day, why didnt you mention that!?!? But you mentioned every rubber bullet the Marines fired.... Biased Much?!?!

As "Escape From Kabul" (2022 release; 76 min) opens, then-President Trump announces in February, 2020 that the US will withdraw from Afghanistan. Newly elected President Biden sets a deadline of August 31, 2021. When the Taliban unexpectedly captures Kabul on August 15, 2021, it sets into motion a humanitarian drama and catastrophe, as hundreds of thousands of Afghan citizens descend onto the Kabul airport in a desperate attempt to flee the country and the Taliban. At this point we are less than 10 min into the movie. Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from director Jamie Roberts, on the heels of last year's excellent "Four Hours At the Capitol". Here Roberts reconstructs the second half of August, 2021. If you think that you know what went down from remembering a couple of clips of the evening news, you really DON'T know. This documentary unearths never before seen footage from a variety of sources, including from the US Marines, the Taliban and elsewhere. Seeing this harrowing and shocking footage will begin to give you an idea what these 2 weeks in August were: the very essence of a humanitarian catastrophe, driven by sheer desperation and fear. Yes, the Taliban leaders are interviewed, smug about defeating the Americans, but never asking themselves why it is that seemingly a vast majority of the Afghan population would rather flee if given the chance than live under Taliban rule. Last but not least: a sincere kudos to everyone, from the Marines to the US Air Force, who was able to airlift a reported 124,000 people under impossible circumstances, the largest airlift operation in US modern history. Bottom line: this is one of the best movies of 2022, period. "Escape From Kabul" premiered a few days ago on HBO Max. I found it to be a deeply moving and shocking viewing experience. Frankly it should be required viewing for all HS and college students alike. Of course don't just take my words for it. If you have any interest in US history and geopolitics, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.