After watching the moving documentary, Afganistan: between hope and fear, my views and opinions of the war have changed. It is such a sad, tricky situation. And it is tragic for all the innocent cilvilians living there. Many things in this film really got to me/affected me; the footage of the taliban and stories of those whom have been affected by the war.

The first thing that came to my head once I finished watching the film was a teacher whose story was revealed. I don't know what it is about his story that makes it stand out to me more than the rest. I forget exactly where in Afganistan he teaches but he risks his life every day teaching women and recives threats from the Taliban often. His brother and uncle have both been kidnapped by the Taliban but yet he continues to do what he belives in even if it means risking everyday of his life. I wish I could tell this man how highly I think of him and how I would never have the courage to do what he is doing. I feel worried for him and hope he will be okay. I will think of him often and use his story to motivate me to do things that I belive in but hold back to do.

I wish that I could do something to help change things in Afganistan and make it better for all the people living there in fear. But as a small 15 year old girl I don't know how to help.

Thank you for showing this documentary, it gives much insight to what is happening in Afganistan and is educating people all across Canada to what is happening outside Canada.

Great documentary. Thank you for all the hard work that went into making it. Please continue the coverage in Afghanistan, we need to see, hear, and talk more about it.

This is a beautiful,courageous documentary showing the complexities of Afghanistan.

The people shown brought us into their lives.
I'm proud of our Canadian effort to secure the freedoms so longed for by the brave people there.

I am a 16 year old girl from London Ontario who has just seem this Doc and I am so touched and want to help in anyway I can! This Doc has went beyond what the news wants you to see and shows you what you need to see and hear to truly understand the situation in Afghanistan. I am truly sadden by what I have seen and want to know has to be done as a Canadian. Please, please, please!! e-mail me and tell me what I can do because I want to help!
Thank you! Sam

I personally thought that the program was very well done. It was in depth and was not biased, and portrayed certain Canadian activities that aren't generally well known. I would definitley like to hear more on the activities in Afghanistan more often in the mainstream media and to the same great extent presented in this documentary. It makes me proud to be able to say that my country is in Afghanistan and is trying to help!

The narrator said "community members meet to decided how funding (from Canada) is to be used". Where were the women? Not one is included. Aren't they villagers too? It suggests we've made no headway in 4 years... it's time to bring the troops home and stop the military occupation now!

Last night I was lucky enough to fall upon CBC's Afghanistan documentary. I am a regular viewer of BBC programs, and as such hold high standards for news programs, regardless of said networks home country.

I was extremely impressed with the overall quality of your feature. The interviews were raw, informative and full of emotion. Also, the footage of Taliban fighters filmed by native Afghan amateur cameramen was gripping and offered a necessary peek at the parallel country the Taliban is running at the moment. The feature also did its best to present the information from both sides in an objective manner, something many American news corporations should take a lesson from.

Kudos to a job well done, keep it up, I'm sure there will be plenty of new developments to report on by 2011 and beyond...

I watched your show last night and would like to offer the following:

As I recall from my high school history, Alexander the Great had a difficult time (relatively) conquering Afghanistan; and it did not stay conquered for long! Be that as it may, I believe no outside force has conquered it since. This, in and of itself, should give anyone pause before interfering too seriously in Afghan affairs.

Having said that, I first became aware of the Taliban in the 1990's from news reports of their war with the Mujahideen and - with the help of the Americans - their assumption of power in the country. I was both amazed and saddened. Amazed, as I always am, by the way religious fanatics and fundamentalists always seem to be able to win the day. Saddened, as I believe that it is wrong for a people to march, however resolutely, back into the 1500's! Nevertheless, I said to myself. "Well, if that's where they want to go, I guess they have the right to go there, whatever I might think."

And then, in 2001, they blew up the Buddhas of Bamyan, and I knew the world, and probably the West, was going to have to remove the Taliban from power by force! I have supported armed intervention, i.e. war, in Afghanistan ever since.

Today, as our soldiers continue to die, as the people continue to suffer a grinding poverty, as the Americans manufacture enemies by burning poppy crops and god knows what else, as the war lords and government officials grow rich at the expense of the people, as corruption is rife and daily strengthens its hold, as the Taliban threatening to retake large parts of the country, and as the need for "Operational secrecy" gives our own politicians an excuse to tell us nothing, and to bend the truth, and to lie to us thus bruising the respect of Canadians for their government, I ask myself, "Is it worth it? Do I really give a damn about Afghanistan, or its people, its past or its future?"

These are not easy questions for a thinking person, but the answer is, "Yes, it is worth it. The people are good people. It is not their fault that they are victims. They do not deserve to be driven back to the middle ages. The fanatics can not be allowed to win -- again!"

It is probably true that the real reason we went to Afghanistan is that it was a way to "pacify" the Americans while avoiding direct involvement in Iraq (and thank god for that!). Nevertheless, we are there now and I believe our mission has taken on a greater goal than simply bowing to the Americans, one that is worth Canadians fighting and dying for. I

believe we should stay there until the Taliban are defeated and destroyed as a movement, or there is no longer any hope of making this happen. The Pakistanis must be forced to kick the Taliban out of Pakistan, or at least make their lives very difficult (otherwise we will probably not be able to beat them). The Americans must be convinced their efforts burn poppy crops are counter-productive, at best. Having done all that we should leave, offering our continuing support and friendship, but not be too surprised if both are spurned. In any case, if we manage to deal effectively with the Taliban, it is up to the Afghans themselves to sort out the war lords, and the other problems they clearly have in abundance. If they want our help we should give it -- but the ultimate responsibility must be theirs.

So, thank you for your show. It is good to be prodded into thinking and re-evaluating such questions.

I would like to thank the CBC for including our school, the Afghan-Canadian Community Centre, in the documentary. It takes a lot of courage for our students in Kandahar to attend school, and it's wonderful for their voices to be heard.

If anyone is interested in learning more about the school or supporting our work, please visit www.theafghanschool.org

With three decades of film production under my belt, I watch with a practiced eye.

This production was superb; beautifully crafted, enlightening, even-handed and thought provoking. Congratulations to all, and especially to those who work so hard in that difficult situation.

Great film, I knew I'd have better insight into life there, after watching it. My re-occurring thoughts throughout were, "Amercians really need to see this immediately".

For too long they've been getting the sensored version of the war by their government. We all need to see that they are flesh and blood, just like us.

Peace.

Thank you for presenting the most accurate portrayal of the reality in Afghanistan to date.

I hope it reaches Conservatives and Liberals in Ottawa, who seem to be totally disconnected from reality as to what Afghanistan is really like six years later despite their unannounced PR visits at the military base in Kandahar.

I am interested to know if anyone was able to get the proper spelling of the journalist's brother's name who is being sentence to death, his story was in this documentary. I am a student at the University of Waterloo and am taking some peace and nonviolent conflict studies courses and am interested in helping. It would be appreciated if anyone has this information if you could post it. Thank you.

Lets go back to when Russia invaded Afghanistan.
The US armed & trained the Taliban to fight Russia.
Karzai, a big Texas oil man was lobbying hte Taliban to sign an agreement to let the US build an oil pipeline across Afghanistan.

They told them if they agreed, they'd shower them with gold. If not, they'd shower them with bombs.
If they had agreed, they'd be Bush's best friends because he doesn't care about human rights or democrasy..

But they refused & they got bombed!
Next, Bush put their puppet, Karzai in as Presiden of Afghanistan.

The first thing Karzai did was sign the pipeline deal.
It all goes back the PNAC..Project for a new American Century. It was planned by the neo-cons way back in /91 with Cheney at the helm. How they would invade the middle east so they could have a launching pad to invade other countries & eventually rule the world.
Fourteen permenant bases in Iraq, the US Embassy in Iraq, larger than the Vatican!
Was it this doc or another TV doc that said that 70% of Afghanis want the Taliban back?
They said things were cheaper then. There were barely any poppies.
I remember the US saying not to get rid of the poppies...it didn't matter!
Now Bush is planning on nuking Iran before he's out of office.
Is Harper going to follow Bush there, as well?
Why do people get sucked into believing anything Bush & his neo-cons say? He has told so many lies!
It just makes me sick!
The Arabs have as much right living on this planet as white people!
They call them radical Islamists. Has anyone read Islam? Its a peaceful religion.
So there are a few extremists. What about Bush? He is an extremist!
Why don't these idiots see the similarities of other people instead of the differences?
Why doesn't the US use democracy & negotiations instead of killing? Why don't they just pay for what they want instead of killing people to get what they want?
It seems like if anyone disagrees with Bush, they become "terrorists" or "insurgents".
I'm so glad CBC is putting out all these documentaries so people can see the truth!

I enjoyed the documentary; thank you for bringing the Afghan people and their stories to our small screen. After watching the show, I also was left with a feeling between hope and fear for Afghanistan and its future while occupied by NATO forces. I don't understand why Canada is at war in Afghanistan. We have never been threatened by Afghanistan and were not invited in to fight off the Taliban by the Afghan people. The longer we are at war, the less Canada will be to provide the assistance needed to increase access to education and health care.

I thought the most encouraging moment of the show was the former warlord who is advocating for negotiation between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Afghanistan has the right to decide for themselves on the best form of government and be represented by all factions, including those whose values do not reflect our own. And just perhaps, those brave young women who face daily threats to attend school will survive to lead a movement that recognizes women as full citizens in a new Afghanistan.

Anne Marie MacDonald did it again! What a good documentary, giving all the sides to the story. What is the solution? Move all the woman and children to a safe area and let the men kill themselves. You could pump millions of dollars into this god forsaken country. Bring our good soldiers back home.

Thank you for bringing this documentary about Afganistan to the homes of people throughout the country. Something like this puts an actual human life behind the countless scenes and writings that fill the news.

I believe that this program has made those who had the oppurtunity to view it better educated on the situation and the complexity of an effective solution. Hopefully it is realized that the oppression in Afganistan will only stop if the world works together to find a solution that will change the misperception that the troops are enemies because they accidently kill innocent civilians, while the Taliban is seen as positive because they create jobs and oppurtunities.

I believe change in Afganistan will start when wealthy countries realize that they have the ability to make a change. While watching the program, I was disappointed and ashamed with the airing of countless commercials. These commercials, once again, made it evident that we often lead selfish lives, myself included, which adds to the problem. How is it ok that we are fed ads which intice us to buy products such as teeth whitener and wrinkle cream while realizing that our brothers over seas have teeth that are completely rotted and skin that never gets the chance to wrinkle.

Now that we have been educated about the oppression and danger that human beings just like us face everday, it is my prayer that we can be the change. That we can bring about oppurtunities for the civilians in Afganistan so that they can provide for themselves and not fear for their lives daily.

Thank you for educating us through this program...and Canada, let's be the change.

Sayed Parwez Kaambakhsh is the university student sentenced to death for Blasphemy. Yet another innocent suffering in the bloody hands of warlords.

I very much enjoyed the program. The main thing that caught my attention was the corruption. It seems like the corruption and warlordism is the root of the problem. And it seems the warlords and the new Taliban have a sort of symbiotic relationship. The warlords promise protection against the Taliban, and the Taliban promise to fight corruption of the warlords. Both need each other to achieve power. I don't know how this problem can be stopped, but it somehow must be stopped.

But what also struck me was how beautiful Afghanistan is. I know the air in the cities is bad, but outside it is absolutely wonderful. Afghanistan has breathtaking scenery and geography. I wish to go back and see more.

I don't know when for first time this documentary was published, but I saw it right now and what makes me sad is I was in Kabul in 2006 September and hopped the situation will gona better, but it becomes worst.

I'm not worried about people on this documentary who returned from Europe or Canada to work in Afghanistan, because they have their foreign passports and they can return back whenever they want.

My concern is about poor afghan people suffering since tens of years and they have no other alternative and no idea what is running and happening on higher levels. Afghan war lords, Poeple around Karzai, afghan ex-king family, Americans,Canadians, Europeans and other coalition countries they think about their business and political games and treating with talibans secretly but the poor afghan civilians are paying the price and getting nothing and absolutely nothing in return. The only thing they are getting in return is insecurity, crime, corruption, injustice and dark life.

It is realy making me sad and sick.
Taher

How do we contribute financially to that man in the remote village who did so much with hundreds, not millions of dollars? He's working away from the military - development area, and addressing the needs of people we always seem to forget - those who are poor and are not a threat to us.

I enjoyed the documentary, and found it informative. Those who feel we shouldn't be there should be forced to watch it.

While there are obviously still serious problems with corruption, that is not an uncommon problem in places throughout the world more civilized than Afghanistan. We are completely spoiled, safe here in Canada, and should not use that as an excuse to bug out.

Freedom for women to get an education, freedom to enjoy some of the fun things in life, freedom from religious dogma and freedom of individual thought and belief are things many would die for. I would.

My grandfather fought for similar ideals in a land far away in 1918 in WWI, in a battle that many would argue wasn't our fight. I knew my grandfather well, and he would be disgusted at such sentiments. We might all be speaking German right now if Stephane Dion and Jack Layton had run Canada at the time.

"Negotiation" is only an option when both parties are reasonable, and neither side is bent on imposing its views and values at any cost. When one side is willing to use death, violence and terrorism to impose its will, then it is our duty to even the playing field for the oppressed.

Albert Einstein once made a wise observation. It is one of my favourite quotes.

"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it".

Thank goodness Canada is willing to do something about it, and help make Afghanistan a less dangerous place for those who are not able to, or don't want to leave.

Thank you too all the people who made this prodution possible... coming from upper-class white canada we truly need more television like this!

Thanks Again

Kudos to the CBC team for an excellent documentary! The film showed me how remarkably resilient the people of Afghanistan have been despite the major challenges of poverty, corruption and violence. Although I was not in favor of keeping Canadian troops in Afghanistan to 2011, seeing "Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear" changed my mind. After so many years of war and oppression, the Afghan people deserve to experience peace and security. Realistically, it will probably take a generation to make that happen (it's not a certain thing either, at this point), but I think the international effort of which Canada is a part is worth it.

Thank you CBC, for making and airing this documentary. It gave me a much deeper understanding of the conflict in Afghanistan today. What touches me the most in the documentary was the epilogue by the aid worker who have decided to stay in Afghanistan to "finish the project". He emphasized on how as humans, we must care for and care about each other regardless of our backgrounds and differences. The message he sends is so real, and brings me hope for the Afghani people, in this time of fear.

What shocked me the most is the corruption and poverty that exists in the country - I've always known that it is difficult to deliver the goods to the people who actually need it, but in viewing this documentary, I realized it's not just "difficult" - it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE.

The main message I got from this documentary was the sheer complexity of the situation - that it's not about figuring out who is at fault, it's not about "winning the war", it's not about determining whether Canadian forces should stay or go (although I believe we should stay, but think about what we are ACTUALLY doing there and evaluate whether we are completely in touch with the problems both at the ground level and at the decision making level back here in Ottawa).

Before we can solve the "problem" - we must decide what the solution would be. We need to decide what war we are fighting and how we will know when the project is finished. Until we know what we should do and how we could accomplish our goals effectively and peacefully, it is impossible to untangle this mess.

Honestly, after watching this documentary, I'm saddened. I don't know how we, all as humans, can do this much harm to each other and get ourselves in such messes. While there are people who continue to try and do good, it seems like the problems are always much bigger than any one person, organization, or country, can handle.

Like everyone else who watched this documentary, its opened my eyes to the realities of Afghanistan today. In reading other posts, I see I am not alone in wanting to contribute to the work being done there. Future Generations Canada is the non-profit doing work with remote communities there. Their website is futuregen.ca The school for girls is theafghanschool.org People want to help and it's good to know there are organisations out there that spend your contribution in a responsible way.

After watching it..my toriginal thought still remains:
Where is it written Canada MUST play the part of the world police,we know NOT what we MEDDLE with!!( focus on Caps)

Lance Read. You want the women to be involved; and the troops pulled? Do you think the Taliban will get the women involved if the NATO troops aren't there to keep the Taliban at bay?

Once again proud to be Canadian.
First of all,for the cause.
you can see that Afghanistan has serious social and economic problems.
Second of all, for the C.B.C. on it's excellence documentary. It's nice to the truth.
And shame on the American Cowboys,for f'ing this up.
Once agian corruption and greed seem to be the real evil's,at both end's.
what's it going to take???

I believe in the Afghan people, who sit between different cultures, yet have survived, not by being a European-style State, but by behaving almost like an organism, relating to neighbouring peoples outside their borders sometimes more intimately than with groups within the country, and absorbing their invaders, as witness the pockets of ethnic difference within the country.

People who have known Afghanistan for years say about the Afghans that an Afghan "will not merely adopt or adapt something, he will employ it for constructive, even innovative, purposes. The Afghans, unlike other peoples. did not rebel against the Arabs as such. They absorbed Arab ideas, formed strong links with the Arabs, and elevated basic ideas..." They are doing that now, with us. They are people who have learned how to learn.
But as for our presence there - I'm afraid that safe passage for a pipe line through Afghanistan has more to do with our troops being there, than any humaitarian purpose.

And I would caution people not to take on the Imperialist stance that it is up to us to think of the right solution for them. That is THEIR country, and THEIR destiny to decide. To think or do otherwise is to be disrespectful.