Obama's War

FRONTLINE is finalizing the film for their seasaon premiere. It's called "Obama's War" and will air October 13th. But because of its extraordinary power and timeliness, they have decided to pre-release the first 24 minutes of it today on their web site.

The film is the latest from veteran producers Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria (Return of the Taliban, The War Briefing)--an intense, on-the-ground view of the U.S. counter-insurgency struggle in Afghanistan, the future of which is the subject of increasingly heated debate among the President's "war council" this week.

The film begins with the harrowing account of a company of Marines under fire for several days this summer in Helmand province--a sequence that ends with the wounding of a young Marine who dies as the members of his company rally around to save his life. It is extremely sensitive material, but critical to grounding the complicated policy debate in the tough realities of a fight that's puzzling the most senior members of the military and government.

This may be one of the strongest pieces of war reportage FRONTLINE has produced in more than twenty-five years on the air. It's equally strong on analysis of the administration's evolving counterinsurgency strategy, as Smith interviews many senior members of the Obama team, including General Stanley McChrystal, whose leaked request for more troops in Afghanistan is at the center of the current questions in Washington.