VENTURING ALONE INTO WARTORN AFGHANISTAN.Byline: - David Kronke ROBERT YOUNG Robert Young or Bob Young may refer to several different people:
The Travel Channel ran a few of his reports, titled, after his cheeky book, ``The World's Most Dangerous Places,'' a couple of years ago. But not until Sept. 11 did anyone really understand his value. ``The funny thing about journalism is that everybody waits for permission,'' Pelton (whom the Daily News profiled in 1999) notes in tonight's episode of ``World's Most Dangerous Places,'' in which he returns to Afghanistan and hangs out with Abdul Rashid Dostum Abdul Rashid Dostum (born 1954) is a general and Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Afghan National Army. His role as the Chief of Staff, however, is often viewed as ceremonial. [1] He is the principal leader of Afghanistan's Uzbek community. , an Afghanistan general who led Green Berets into treacherous battles as America's war on terrorism Terrorist acts and the threat of Terrorism have occupied the various law enforcement agencies in the U.S. government for many years. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as amended by the usa patriot act began last fall, including the one in which the first U.S. casualties were tallied. Tonight's episode recounts events in the war on terrorism that, for most of us, is old news, but Pelton adds brand-new and utterly compelling visuals to the story. Pelton sneaked into Afghanistan with Dostum's blessing and was there when the notorious American Taliban, John Walker Lindh
John Phillip Walker Lindh (born February 9, 1981) is an American who was captured during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan while fighting there for the Taliban. , was discovered. Pelton ventured past obstacles including land mines left by the Soviets in the 1980s that would take, by some reckoning, 20,000 years to remove. Pelton notes that prior to Sept. 11, Dostum was routinely described as a ``brutal warlord'' before his battles against the Taliban made him an American hero - only Pelton, in his book, described him as a ``roly-poly warlord warlord, in modern Chinese history, autonomous regional military commander. In the political chaos following the death (1916) of republican China's first president and commander in chief, Yüan Shih-kai, central authority fell to the provincial military governors .'' (Pelton was additionally pals with Ahmed Shah Massoud, the ``Lion of Panjshir,'' who defied the Soviet invasion of the `80s and was assassinated as·sas·si·nate tr.v. as·sas·si·nat·ed, as·sas·si·nat·ing, as·sas·si·nates 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons. 2. just as Americans hoped he would lead the country out of Taliban rule.) Nonetheless, Pelton gained unprecedented access to Dostum, as death-defying as his efforts were, while the rest of the world's journalists chose to remain in safer terrain. The program also includes excerpts from Pelton's encounter with Lindh, which were widely reported late last year; nothing new is added here. Narration in the special seems unduly melodramatic (``Dostum likes Pelton's bold, direct style''). What Pelton - whose reportage in the face of danger is both unruffled and droll droll adj. droll·er, droll·est Amusingly odd or whimsically comical. n. Archaic A buffoon. [French drôle, buffoon, droll, from Old French drolle - achieved was truly heroic and valuable. This film's attempts to persuade us of this - including electric guitar riffs more appropriate to an X-Games competition - seem cheesy cheesy (che´ze) caseous. and opportunistic in light of the gravity of the man's own ambitions, which remain genuinely riveting. THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS PLACES: AFGHANISTAN - Three and one half stars What: Robert Young Pelton sneaks into Afghanistan during the war on terrorism and comes across John Walker Lindh. Where: Travel Channel. When: 9 tonight. In a nutshell: Invaluable, jaw-dropping documentation on our war on terrorism. |
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