Along Afghanistans porous border with Pakistan, the U.S. Army is focused on reaching out to Afghan villagers and building local institutions. Mountains and poverty stand out as obstacles to success, but it is the human terrain that presents the greatest challenge.
In this mini-documentary, Lt. Jake Kerr, West Point Class 07, leads his motley combat platoon out of a remote outpost in the Dangam District of eastern Afghanistans Kunar province. Kerr, 25, of Lake Placid, N.Y., struggles to improve his skills as a peacemaker and diplomat even as the Taliban and his own warrior alter-ego draw him deeper into combat.
As more platoon-sized U.S. Army bases in eastern Afghanistan are abandoned for security reasons, President Obama and the militarys top brass must scrutinize the hard work of Combat Platoon and others like it. In doing so, they must balance the pros of having Americas best foot forward, protecting the Afghans in a classic interpretation of Gen. Petraeus counter-insurgency doctrine, while, at the same time, weighing the cons of putting more fighters in harms way in a conflict that has only fragile and fickle support at home.
This look at life on the front lines was filmed and put together by Philip Smucker, the author of Al Qaedas Great Escape: The Military and the Media on Terrors Trail. (Potomac, 2004.) It is part of a longer documentary project to accompany his forthcoming book, My Brother, My Enemy: America and the Battle of Ideas across the Islamic World. (Prometheus, 2010.)