Marines Get Crash Course in Afghan Culture

Posted by on May 17, 2015 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

LULU GWEN IFILL: Next, another in our occasional reports from journalism students around the country — tonight: giving U.S. forces a crash course in Afghan culture. At today’s White House news conference, President Obama said the furor over the Quran burning incident last month showed the challenges for allied troops in Afghanistan. Dealing with those challenges and gaining a better understanding of cultural differences is the aim of a program based in the remote desert of Southern California. Our report, prepared before the Quran burning, is from Carl Nasman. He’s a graduate student in the journalism school at the University of California, Berkeley. CARL NASMAN, University of California, Berkeley: It looks and sounds like a typical Afghan village. But these Marines are nowhere near Afghanistan. They’re patrolling a multimillion-dollar recreation. Lance Corporal Derek Hicks is one of the Marines on patrol. LANCE CPL. DEREK HICKS, U.S. Marine Corps: This is basically typical of a lot of villages in Afghanistan. We were deployed there last year. And there were a few towns that were similar to this that we were patrolling through. So it’s very realistic. CARL NASMAN: The mock Afghan village is at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base outside of San Diego. Even from my vantage point above the action, the scene below seems real. The training facility is less than 2 years old. It’s one of three mock villages on Marine Corps bases across the country. Hundreds of Marines pass through here every week before deploying to Afghanistan. One of them is Sgt. Christopher Roberts. SGT. CHRISTOPHER ROBERTS, U.S. Marine Corps: The first time you go on a patrol, you’re going to be kind of just overwhelmed with all of the culture, the scenery, trying to figure out what’s going on, how to deal with these people. If you don’t get something like this, you’re doing it for the first time in Afghanistan. That’s not a good day. CARL NASMAN: Marines here learn more than just combat. They’re taking a crash course in Afghan culture. SGT. CHRISTOPHER ROBERTS: We get all kinds of cultural awareness training. And it definitely plays a huge factor. You might want to like wave at somebody or...

Read More

Cultural diversity the goal for Afghan women

Posted by on May 16, 2015 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

We’re about to hear the Ethiopian national anthem here in Copley Square. The music is blasting the crowds are probably 15-20 did, on the side the streets closest to Newbury Street as we watch our men’s winner rise the last 385 yards against a backdrop a Boston strong sign in one of our businesses, businesses so profoundly affected 2013 community rallying around them and around this event today. This signature event in the city again and not a speed day with this very crisp headwind out these when you can see the American flags just fluttering start out coming right back in the face of the runners 2008 31 on the clock and county. He had the hills beautifully I saw him commented running of unicamp 50K very very helicourse and had them so well now how waste to crowded there. you know he has a betting favorite and a good reason to the two beddings favorites the money new were there except the routine she was on the line. And what a beautiful view now as he closes in the final yard to the Boston Marathon finished the least it is with the sprint to the finish he will win the 2015 Boston Marathon Ethiopian the least of the season breaks the take. beautiful effort. He knows what it’s like to wear the number one and wear again he returns to Boston next year because running in this race and honor Boston he says the most historic race in our...

Read More

Women in Afghanistan

Posted by on May 15, 2015 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

I am not; maybe I have been here too long. But I’m not been hopeful about the future here. A sobering assessment ten years on, when Canada joined the mission in Afghanistan women’s rights were a significant part of the justification. Under the oppressive Taliban regime, women had few freedoms they could not leave their homes along; girls did not go to school. Now Canada’s mission is beginning to draw down and in tonight’s installment over Afghanistan what is next. Susan Ormiston looks at life today, through the eyes have to women, who have seen some change but wonder is it enough. Women here tell a different kind a war story. A war against abuse and abandonment, this is the story at to women both named Perrine, each fighting their own war and winning modest gains that will be your last. This is the land right here, can you show me inside? He doesn’t look like much have a house on a hill outside Kabul. Did you build this? But Perrine and her kids built this by hand. This is her lawn but she had to fight for it, when the village commander and his tags tried to take it for themselves. “It was just me my son and my daughter. I saw those boys have knifes and they had some other weapons with them. What I did? “I put-up the shovel and I start fighting.” What did the men do when you started to fight back? “They were beating my son, they were beating my daughter, and they beating me too.” After the beach you why didn’t you give up? I became angry too and then I caught one of them and I beat him and I tore his clothes from the top to the bottom. He had weapons but I was not scared, no I wasn’t scared.” Fighting that would have been unthinkable a few years ago Perrine’s poor. Her husband deserted her and her seven children. She lives in a relative’s house but once a week, women in this village have been going to assure a women’s gathering to learn about their rights. A program sponsored by Jennifer Roles team at...

Read More

The Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan

Posted by on May 15, 2015 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

About 100 miles west of Kabul Afghanistan is a broad valley flanked by high clips. From the first to the 6th century, the world’s largest statues have the standing Buddha was carved into the face of these clips. And for fifteen hundred years, the Buddha’s watched over this portion of the busy trade routes between India in China. As the centuries past the statue is also survived numerous wars over the control of Afghanistan. In the late nineteen nineties the peacefulness a balmy on Valley was broken once again, as the Taliban battled rival factions in the Afghan civil war. Although, the Buddha’s were considered idols according to the Taliban. Strict interpretation of Islam, the official stance up the ante for the first few years, was for their preservation as a part of Afghan history. And as a source of income from foreign tourists. In March 2001, that policy change. And the Taliban order the volume Buddha destroy. This Taliban video shows young men climbed to the top of the larger Buddha, they are among the last to touch the agent figures as they set the explosives. As a group a Taliban leaders watch from a nearby hillside the statues are reduced to rubble, and the Dead Nation fills the valley with a cloud of dust. All that remains today at the balmy on Buddha’s is our making niches in the mountainside with an outline of where the towering figures once stood. Last year, after the statues were destroyed, the Taliban themselves were forced out of power during America’s war against terrorism. Now the valley’s peaceful once again. And the people who live there trying to recover from decades of war. But in Western Europe researchers are exploring ways to rebuild the giant statues. And a foundation is being established to help fund the project. Through computer imaging and three-dimensional model scientists and historians are determining the precise materials. And the best construction method they will need to accurately replace the Buddha’s in the balmy on...

Read More

Inside an Afghan prison

Posted by on May 14, 2015 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

As Canada ends its combat role in Afghanistan, we have been looking at what is next for that country. The progress that is been made and the challenge is still ahead. Tonight we want to take you inside the place you have never seen before; it is been described as a breeding ground for insurgents. The Taliban call it a recruitment center, you might be surprised to learn is actually a high-security prison. Susan Ormiston got the real access inside. When Turkey prison on the outskirts of cabal at the foot of the Hindu Kush Mountains, 5,000 up the country’s worst criminals are her, in a placement to be impenetrable. Security seems tired; guards go through all our television gear and put it down. But we are about to show you what does get through, and how the ceded territories can sprout inside these walls. The prison chief General Abdel Baki bisutti has a fondness for caged bird. And the Confession, that jailbirds threatened him. “Many times we have received phone calls from inside the jail, and have been threatened that we are going to be killed by a suicide attack.” Abdel Baki bisutti added. All Charki seen riots, jailbreaks and political executions. Fertile ground for stoking the insurgency. To counter unrest the US is pouring in millions of dollars for upgrades and programs. They may be murderers and thieves, but they’ll be physically fit. Computer literate and scholars Islamic Studies, religion only we are told not politics. But not long ago the Taliban, run its own mad rush to school here, and completely controlled a prison wing, so that guards had to leave food at the door. The Taliban say that this prison is recruiting center. Many suspected insurgents are still able to keep up contact with their fighters outside, and it is believed that the finest market bombing in Kabul with patch right here by 45-year-old, prisoner who was able to orchestrate the attack from inside his prison. We research one to two blocks every day and find stuff. The main problem at the moment drugs and cellphones, and you found all these in one block yesterday. We have thousands have telephones...

Read More

Historic Fotage Of Buddha of Bamiyan in Hazara history

Posted by on May 13, 2015 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

It was here that we would live in New York for several days while exploring the area. These have been built in typical Mongolian style by the government, especially for the comfort and convenience of those who wish to visit the exciting sites nearby. Inside, you are protected from a chilly night air by layers of felt placed over the read framework. And modern pilot facilities as well as hot water are available. You will be quite comfortable on the bed stool and everything is spotless. It so well rested, we were ready to go out and explore the site of Bamiyan, a very famous city, and an area the whole valley the Golden Valley of Bamiyan is noted for an entire mountain range that was used by the Buddhist as a sacred place in centuries past. And that whole series at mountains there has Buddhist caves in it, religious, fanatics, religious priests came here curve the caves and they dedicated all these caves to Buddha. And when the Muslims came along, many of the caves were destroyed in fact the case were used as residences and the car from the fire covered many of the paintings inside and that sort of save those paintings. They have been able to remove the tar, deposits from the fires at the Sentul last two centuries and they are found Buddhist paintings some a them a great beauty in color inside the caves. Tremendous Buddhist, religious, complex in this Bamiyan valley, there were places where you can see the remains of some other statues that had been attached by those holes to the background near the statue that long since disappeared. One tremendous statue is being restored by Indian, engineers and art is to have come up there and they are trying to restore this tremendous one, you can see how in the golden days these patent have ropes there and put the mud around the rope to cause the polls in the roads. But this is that was a small Buddha 125 feet, here is the large Buddha. The large Buddha is a hundred and seventy-five feet high, probably the biggest in all over the world...

Read More