First Look at Afghan War Documentary (VIDEO)

A documentary in production will be highly educational about the war in Afghanistan.

(SALEM, Ore.) - It has been well over a year since I began working on a documentary about the war in Afghanistan. Now, thanks to a lost file turning up, I have recovered the first part of the program, which is located below.

This rediscovery of lost media has already sparked a desire to move quickly and complete production of this hour-long program in the coming months.

It is an in-depth look at the American and Afghan and Canadian and British troops who are engaged in the fighting there.

The clip is a few paces beyond "rough" but again offers an overview and example of what is to come.

Some of the stories that will be included in the full-length documentary include humanitarian aid missions, attempts to medically treat the impoverished citizens of Afghanistan, the wreckage left behind by ten years of Soviet occupation, and the challenges of training a foreign Army with educational levels that are well below average, if they have any education at all.

Among the sadness of Afghanistan is a mysterious beauty and fascination. The people who live in this place are tough as nails; most only fear the Taliban, and their soldiers are brave, but is it enough to help western forces repel an ultimate defeat of our ideals?

Time will tell. Americans actually debate the merits of winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people, as if there was any logical reason not to secure that basic trust and advantage in such an insecure place.

Rest assured that the Taliban and other anti_coalition military forces do not want Americans to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.

It is possibly the purest expression of the ignorance bantered by people who haven't the first idea of what real war and poverty are all about, especially in a fourth-world country like Afghanistan.

You will hear from an interpreter who saw one family member after another murdered, including his two-year old daughter, and also the words of two Kabul women who are forever wheelchair bound, by bombs planted by the Taliban.

The program will take viewers miles into the freezing cold mountains of this land of conflict where American soldiers live in extremely remote locations like a castle built by the British during their war here in the 1870's, and miles into the Pesh Valley where combat is routine and dangerous, where soldiers live in shelters constructed entirely of railroad ties.

Viewers will meet Afghan people of every age and description, they will see historic locations like the Blue Mosque and Mazar-e-Sharif where the first American in this war was killed.

To clarify, this is a separate project from the documentary we are currently producing on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, information on that program can be seen at this link: Documentary on PTSD Needs Help to Reach Completion (VIDEO)

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Silver Spoke Award by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (2011), Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim was a member of the National Press Photographer's Association for several years and is a current member of the Orange County Press Club.

Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. As News Editor, Tim among other things, is responsible for publishing the original content of 82 Salem-News.com writers. He reminds viewers that emails are easily missed and urges those trying to reach him, to please send a second email if the first goes unanswered. You can write to Tim at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com