Does anyone really "Rethink Afghanistan"?

At the beginning of the screening of Rethink Afghanistan at the Fellowship of Reconciliation, I challenged the mostly "anti-war" audience to really look at the film critically and to examine the extent to which it would be genuinely persuasive to someone that did not already agree with the premise that the U.S. military role in Afghanistan was a bad thing. The film, produced and directed by Robert Greenwald and the Brave New Foundation can be seen at their website, in segments that are added to as the war continues to go on. Since our screening on 2/14/10, more segments have been made available that challenge the rationale of Obama's declaration to add another 30,000 troops.

In the film, Greenwald (pictured below right) takes us through the various rationales for the war; security of the U.S. against terrorists, protecting the women of Afghanistan and restoring democracy. For each issue, we see a series of interview clips with ex-intelligence and military experts, scholars and analysts from the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, and Afghan women and men, challenging each of these justifications for the war. We see the intense suffering of women, children and civilians caused by U.S. bombs and we also see dramatic analyses of the financial costs to our own country. Convincing enough to me. But then I was already a believer.

What of those who disagreed? We were fortunate to have present some who offered a different perspective. Present was a family with Afghan roots, a man who had immigrated to the U.S. during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan who agreed with most of the film, but questioned the lack of information about what he saw as progress within Afghanistan as the hold of the Taliban was pushed back. His perspective was that the U.S. role could be helpful, but he was sympathetic to the idea that the bombing was destructive to that cause. Interestingly, his son was totally against the military invasion and wanted U.S. troops to withdraw. Another woman present seemed to support the Obama policy and found the film to too one-sided. Most of the audience argued for the idea that the U.S. motive for being there was control of the world's resources, that military occupation could bring no good and that the film was fair.

Interestingly, when I asked if anyone had changed their mind or perspective due to the film in any way, no one said they had. It left me with a question; What does change a person's mind about war? Or anything else for that matter?