Airdate: Afghanistan: Inside Australia War

ABC’s three part documentary series Afghanistan: Inside Australia War hears from those who were on the ground, to those in Canberra.

Narrated by Dan Wylie, it begins at September 11 2001 as America and Australia were drawn into war against the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

Never before have Australia’s fighting women and men talked so candidly to the nation about
war so soon after the shooting stopped. Afghanistan: Inside Australia’s War draws on the raw
experiences of our longest war – from private soldiers to Prime Ministers. In their own words
and through their own extraordinary helmet-cam battle footage (much of it never seen before)
Australian ground war warriors lay bare their hearts in a searing, profound 3 x 1 hour epic – not
just how they fought, but why and to what end.

The contributors to the series are all members of the Australian Defence Force who served in the
12 year war, the politicians who sent them to fight or Afghans with sharp insights into
Australians’ contribution to the war.

Their accounts are complemented by Dan Wyllie’s spare, down-to-earth narration and elegantly
cut archival footage. Afghanistan would become Australia’s first self-shot war and from the ADF
archives of professionally and personally gathered footage come images that are poignant,
dramatic and fresh. The series takes viewers inside the experiences of Australian soldiers in
action, on patrol and at base.

The series puts Australia’s war in Afghanistan in the context of a global war on terror. The events
of 9/11, Bali, Madrid, London and Iraq – plus candid reflections of former Prime Ministers John
Howard and Julia Gillard – sit up against the experiences of Australian soldiers who constantly
examine the reasons why they fight. Afghan commentators like Senator Hila Achekzai and
former Warlord Pacha Khan Zadran reveal the complexities of that country, the moral as well as
military maze in which our soldiers fought.

As much as a war story, Afghanistan: Inside Australia’s War is a portrait of a generation. What
Australia’s fighting men and women did on our behalf is chilling, fascinating and often inspiring.
The way they did it – the search for solid moral foundations from which to fight this confusing
war – is perhaps their most lasting legacy.

Tuesday February 23 8:30pm on ABC