Alison MacLean
Special to Peace Arch News
How many coalition soldiers does it take to keep one Canadian filmmaker alive in Afghanistan?
By the time I returned from Kabul and Kandahar last month, I had my answer.
Far too many.
Three weeks earlier, I left my home and family in Crescent Beach. This was my fourth trip to Afghanistan and my second documentary shoot in two years.
Times have certainly changed. Fewer journalists. Less access. Limited financial support. The embed program that attempted to inform the world in 2010 – to limited effect – no longer exists.
All embedded journalists must provide their own protective gear when working in a war zone. Unfortunately, after a long journey with a number of flight transfers, my tripod and body armour were held back by airport security for some unexplained reason.
I was booked the next day to start shooting my independent documentary, Burkas to Bullets, so it was an immediate issue.
Afghanistan is a cash economy, preferably American, and it took two days and a lot of cash, as well as numerous trips to the airport, to eventually reach an “understanding” with airport security to retrieve my armour.
On each visit, I was physically searched by a female. Suicide bombers are a problem at the airport perimeter, and unsecured taxis are also a concern. I would book a taxi from a secured list.
One time, however, the driver took me to a different location and demanded more money. I paid and got out. I was able to flag down a British Embassy vehicle, and they provided me with the armed security required to arrive at my destination.
This was the beginning of three weeks of living dangerously.
A woman abroad
My documentary focuses on Afghan security, with profiles of police and military women.
Women make up 50 per cent of Afghan society, and a growing number of women are training to become frontline workers.
NATO and the International Security Assembled Forces (ISAF) have spent years mentoring and training Afghan security personnel. Canada, the U.S., Britain and other coalition countries have done an excellent job in developing security programs in anticipation of the respective countries leaving Afghanistan, with the knowledge that the Afghan National Security Forces would develop their own training and security.
I was looking forward to my visit to the police academy in Kabul to document the transition.
Kabul was busy with plenty of children in the streets, on their way to schools. It was nice to see so many little girls heading to school. This was my first positive image of Kabul.
I booked a driver to take me to the Kabul Police Academy. When we arrived, officers at the gate pointed their guns at me and asked me to leave the car. They were upset by my large camera and Pelican case. My ISAF identification angered them even more.
They debated whether to destroy my gear and discussed reasons why they should shoot me for “working with the Americans.” After a tense 20 minutes, they allowed me to proceed to the training centre.
I was grateful for the security provided by the Americans at the academy. They ensured I was safe while documenting my interviews.
Throughout, I could feel the anger toward me. Just being a female camera person seemed to enrage some of the local officers, even though I was dressed as required, with my hair covered.
I had to be fully protected at all times. I did not anticipate this level of animosity. It was obvious to me that there was a strong anti-West sentiment.
‘Salaam alaikum’
The next day, I hired a new driver and was able to travel on the Kabul-Jallabad road, considered to be one of the most dangerous in the world because of the number of insurgents who have been known to abduct or kill drivers and travellers.
The police academy had prepared me for the difficulty I would receive at the gates to the Kabul Military Training Centre. It was a massive military installation with numerous checkpoints and gates. I was eventually cleared after numerous physical searches and my equipment being taken apart.
My Canadian Forces contact met me at the main area. I was able to document the second-ever graduating class of female officers with their male counterparts.
The Afghan media were a bit surprised to see me, but they accorded me the same courtesy as other media scrums. “Salaam alaikum” (May Peace Be With You) was my chosen greeting to all.
The graduation ceremony was impressive, with the Afghan Security Forces taking the lead. The Coalition Forces were guests. The transition of the security forces at both the police academy and the military training centre showed the success of the Coalition Forces stepping back to enable the Afghan Forces to manage Afghan security.
This was particularly important because of the “Green on Blue attacks.” That is when the Afghan Security Forces attack the Coalition Trainers. These attacks are particularly devastating because of the betrayal of trust.
My own difficulties in documenting the women in security reinforced to me how serious this issue was becoming.
During this time, the City of Kabul was shut down by protests as a result of the anti-Muslim YouTube video that was in the world news last month. I was not able to leave my compound as the anti-Western sentiment made me a target.
I could hear the chanting and the rhetoric being amplified just a block away. It was frightening. ISAF called to ensure I was OK.
The Internet had been cut in the compound when the protest began. My only communication was my local cell.
After three days, I was able to return to the American base. I was grateful to be a guest there, as Kabul had become too dangerous for a Western female filmmaker.
Clockwise from left: Alison MacLean with a NATO doctor, members of a French Female Engagement Team and Afghan midwives; a crippled man in Kabul; and graduating officers at Kabul Military Training Centre.
A new future
Over the next two weeks, I was able to document the U.S.-led Female Engagement Teams (FETs), who actively work in Afghan communities to assist women to access health care and job skills training programs.
Afghan communities need to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on foreign aid.
My journey took me to Nijrab, where I was able to document a French FET and a local Shura. The success of the French FET was evident, because they had assisted in the training and development of a midwifery program.
The two midwives and trainee were requesting to have some medical support items provided for their work. They were supported by the local Afghan doctor, who was very appreciative of the FET and their work in the Nijrab community.
After the Kabul protest, there were three suicide-bomber attacks.
The first was outside of a base in Kabul, and it was by a 14-year-old boy who detonated himself when he was confronted by the children and youth vendors who wanted to protect their “friends” at the base. This was devastating to the Afghan families and the base personnel who knew the children.
The tragedy of children killing children is incomprehensible to most.
Sadly, the following week, a female suicide bomber detonated herself at another checkpoint, killing 14 foreign workers.
It is hard for Western society to understand the level of rage that can erupt so quickly in the Middle East.
Despite the horrific tragedy of these attacks, I was able to document the lasting legacy of the infrastructure that the Coalition Forces have developed in Afghanistan. Providing the Afghan people with the skills and training to manage literacy and security is the only way forward for Afghan society.
Women and children are creating a new future for the people of Afghanistan. As a Canadian filmmaker – and mother – I will continue to support their journey toward education and a life filled with hope for the future of their country.
(MacLean will speak at a special Remembrance Day service at Shaughnessy United Church in Vancouver, Nov. 11.)