About 30 students and patrons hovering over drinks and hookahs gathered Monday night at Natura Coffee & Tea for a viewing of the new documentary Rethink Afghanistan.
Robert Greenwald's film discussed the staggering costs of the Afghan war. Greenwald traveled to Afghanistan, along with the Brave New Foundation, to interview people from the region as well as leaders of their women's and human rights movements and political figures.
The screening of the film was hosted by UCF's Students for a Democratic Society, a progressive organization that "[struggles] for the end to all wars of aggression, imperialism and the socio-economic and political structures that support and profit from them," according to their Facebook page.
"The event is part of a larger campaign that seeks to help students understand that the wars all over the world are being financed right in our backyard," Adam Smith, an SDS officer and UCF alumnus, said.
The film included interviews of Afghanistan natives as well as American scholars and ex-CIA agents who answered in six parts what military escalation will gain in Afghanistan, how nuclear-armed Pakistan could be further destabilized by the war, the costs of war, civilian casualties that have resulted from U.S. air strikes, the life of women in the region and finally, why there is no victory to be won in Afghanistan.
Rethink Afghanistan put heavy emphasis on the financial loss the war has cost America "being the most expensive war ever," according to a CNN clip that flashes on the screen. The film also delves into how difficult it is to supply troops there, another high-cost factor.
U.S. Marines overseas mentioned how there is no accountability for the money sent overseas.
"We don't spend money the right way," two soldiers said in the film.
A blue pamphlet that SDS was handing out described how, "The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have compromised your education," and that UCF and other members of the higher education system have become "increasingly geared towards working with the military industrial complex" for financial gain.
According to the pamphlet: "The money UCF gets from these military contractors is public money. The war industry relies on public funds getting channeled to private companies."
One man in the film said he has become so poor from the fighting in his land that he must sell his child.
"No one wants to sell their daughter, but I have to," he said.
The film also put heavy emphasis on the violence against women in that region and how domestic violence has increased.
"Women have two equal rights — every woman has the right to obey their husband and the right to pray, but not in the Mosque, which is reserved for men," one interviewee said.
Anand Gopal, a Wall Street Journal correspondent to Afghanistan, discussed how the situation for women has changed for the worse. He said living conditions were harsh under Taliban rule, but at least they weren't forced to live in a war zone.
Ryan Hall, another SDS member and senior computer science major, is interested in learning different views from the war.
"I like that they had a whole section dedicated to women," Hall said. "The war in Afghanistan is called the 'good war,' despite commonalities between Iraq and Afghanistan. I hope [the film] will point it out to Americans that don't see."
The film hit home for SDS member Lisa Phillips, whose brother is leaving to go to Afghanistan soon.
"It didn't change my perspective [of the war]," the junior social work major said. "It made it more real."
October marks the ninth year of the invasion of Afghanistan and has spurred several protests and rallies throughout Central Florida, including Saturday's march against war profiteers at the corner of University and Alafaya — UCF's main entrance.
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