I had previously stated that there were Iraqi nationals...(my apologies for stating that they were Afghanistan nationals)...with the American troops and had asked why they did not say something about the hand signals that were clearly being misunderstood...(it has since been pointed out to me that there were no Iraqi nationals with the American troops)... In my country we use the American hand signal for stop and the Iraqi hand signal is usually used as part of a conversation... "...what do you mean..." "...why... ...or to emphasise a point that you are making... The driver did not know what the gesture meant and the soldier did not realise that the gesture was not understood... 🇿🇦
@@aprilsmith3683 This was an Iraqi that died, not an Afghan. Early on in the war in Iraq, the U.S. did not have Iraqi allies like they did with the Afghan National Army. Eventually once the U.S. had won the war, they set up an Iraqi army to help fight the insurgency at which point I'm sure they learned more about the culture like you are expressing
@@MrSwccguy common sense for you maybe, but if iraqis invaded usa and told you to stop with their hand signal while shouting in arabic you wouldn't understand either.
Lol, no. The taliban NEVER delt in opium, it was american pharmaceutical companies that planted all those opium fields in Afghanistan, which resulted in the Opium epidemic in America. Wake up.
As a photographer I always tought on his take about how "easy" is to shot war and how hard it is to photograph peace. I'm glad to hear it from someone with that experience. Great, great real stuff here.
I get what you're trying to say, but that's BS. Danger aside, even peace is all around us, just because conflict is what sells and what's more relevant doesn't mean good things don't happen every day. Also, it's all fun and games until you get bombed or the American soldiers shoot you by mistake... There's not much protection for photographers and journalists nowadays.
@@Osama-KIN_TMZ01 Yeah, of course. It’s about the concept, that’s why I used the quotation marks, because of course it’s not easy, it’s very, very hard, but the chock factor is always there. It’s easier for me to feel a terrible image, a drowned child, a bombing, soldiers broken by war. Peace is a very brief state, very relative and rarely a visual moment. He is not talking about the picture, he’s offering another insight from his pursue as photographer. I photographed the pandemic and it’s impacts at it’s peak in my city in Brazil, gone inside CTIs, at people’s homes. Everyday I tought my work was going to kill my parents. That I was going to bring the virus home. Always tought about my state of mind while doing it, it’s a thin line between a good impactful necessary image and just a violent one. They both have their values tho. Today I still struggle to be relevant with my work, because it feels like my “war” pictures are better and stronger than a portrait of a friend, wich is absolutely not true. War is bizarre, painful, human violence at it’s peak and war photographers inspire me in a raw jornalistic human way. I used to daydream about being one, today I want to be as far as possible from any war, but as a journalist I will shot one if someday will be necessary. I just hope I find my inner peace. It is a very hard and philosophical topic. And nobody said war is more important than peace, by the way.
@@thalesrenato Understandable, although that's hardest thing about capturing a topic in general, it is that the negative views will always be the most notable and relatable, as they're easier to express sadly. It is harder to showcase the positive side of things in a world where the majority of day-to-day life in it is suffering. Another thing is the difficult aspect of making said positive outlook not seem fake or unrealistically optimistic. Plus, shock value sells while peace is always met with skepticism, usually for a reason, but still... Most people are naturally cynically that even someone doing the right thing is shifted to focus on the something else or turned somehow over to be a bad thing. I'm not a photographer, but I am an animator/traditional artist. Even if as an artist you have the freedom of a canvas to show whatever you want, whenever you want it to be grounded it eventually slips into something dark or a basic portrait. I think how I would personally say it, "it is hard to capture war, but it is mentally draining and complex to show peace". Although it is a bit derivative lol. Either way, I hope you feel much better lately mate. I myself without question had the worst two years in my life during COVID, so I already people had trouble in all fields similarly.
I absolutely adore the tale of the three individuals perched in a tree, with the third member keeping a vigilant lookout while the other two connect with their significant others, whom they are in turn safeguarding. The sheer power and impact of this image is simply astounding!
@@tragat885 Americans sometimes use the word "funny" as another way to say "peculiar" or "odd" not that it was laughable, but if he was laughing at their desperation to call home then yes he is a joke but I doubt that's what he meant.
There is something powerful in the way he tells his stories. I can't put my finger on it but the way he explains his experiences is super fascinating and scary at the same time
I think it might be because English isn’t his native language. The broken English means he doesn’t really fill his sentences with filler words. He gets the point across with as few words as possible.
Genuine. He had a task and with true passion all beit out of wrong and misguided views he still chose to tell the story and capture moments that are pivotal to the argument that this unjustified war was fought with no ‘real’ enemy
A photograph can tell you a million things and make you think philosophically of certain things. Mr. Pagetti's pictures are fantastic, they tell their own story.
This guy went to the most dangerous places on the planet in the most violent times. Surrounded by armed men on all sides, some really heavily armed. He was there with just a camera. He also has the biggest balls on the planet!!
There's so much you don't know about the truth, and those in charge of history and the great game. Come gaze at the stars with me, another traveler disappointed on humans embracing the green dimensions instead of the path he left behind for all of us. So close to a golden age, yet...
Apropos balls, how funny would it be to temporrely put a hole through a curtain and stick a dildo on a wooden stick with huge balls through it and tease the sniper. Imagine he takes shots and misses while the dildo wiggles in the wind left and right hahahah. After 5min he'd give up angry af and pick up the Dashka heavy machine gun and open up like a maniac trying to hit that wiggling thing hahhahah.
I served in OIF 07-09. This is an incredible story. As a soldier in combat with other combat photographers i appreciate this mans work! This man dedicated his life to show people the harsh reality of war while placing himself in danger just as we did day in day out. I commend this man's work and thank you for sharing your story.
I hate seeing my dad hurt so much for what turned out with so little to show. Thank you for your service. I love this country, but I'll be damned if I ever fight for a single ungrateful person in it.
@@cobeylynch4733 The way you ended your comment hurts but I understand. I don't mean that you shouldn't have said it, but more so where your coming from. Service to one's nation is extremely broad, but important, and though the military aspect may bother some, it's one of those necessary evils unfortunately. The military (from my experience) has such a strong sense of comraderie that the big picture (for myself at least) was lost behind the men and women I met in my service. Your father, and family, ended up paying a price that he may not have understood when joining. If he did, I hope you are able to change your perspective of his sacrifice and it meaning little in the grand scheme.
"I know humanity will never stop to fight. But now I want to do peace." I'll say a quiet prayer that peace will find you. You've seen more than enough pain for many lifetimes.
There will be peace after many many years now those who survive in my land Afghanistan and saw the deaths of their beloved friends are already on pstd and coma
I served in the Korengal (OEF 8-9) with 1-26 IN. It was extremely hectic and very kinetic. It sucked. I arrived before Wanat, and I did left seat-right seat with some of the paratroopers who, in part due to our arrival, had to go to Wanat. One of my buddies broke his back purely from the steepness of the valley walls and hiking up and down them for hours on end. I remember that I heard of a dude in another unit who had a heart attack from climbing those valleys. It was early days, he'd just deployed and he fell out (pretty common when you're getting absolutely SMOKED), but then he collapsed, and he was dead. Dude was 19 or 20. That's how steep those mountains are. I also served in other parts of Kunar Province but primarily the Pech and its tributary valleys. We were in contact every day. I don't think there was a single day when I didnt get fired on, we'd take small arms incoming and 30 seconds later we'd be in an intense TIC. We did movement to contacts and patrols and took it to the Taliban as well. I and many of us were very concerned about getting attacked from above or surrounded, with Taliban getting inside the wire like at Wanat, and at another outpost (Ranch House). Ranch House happened before I arrived. I served during OIF too before we redeployed to Afghanistan, there it was urban fighting, mostly in eastern Baghdad. The Pech and the Korengal are totally different to Baghdad. They are extremely beautiful however, and I've never seen anything quite like them. I don't know if I would go back in peace time if I had the chance.
When I was 8 years old my sister and I took piano lessons in our neighborhood and when it got dark out I was afraid to walk by myself. My sister told me to pretend that I am a monster and I won't be scared of the monsters. She was right.. it did help. This guy with the halloween mask reminded me of that 💔
This brought back memories of my son who was an 101st Airborne Scout in 2008- 2010 in Afghanistan. He showed me some pictures working besides the ANA on mountain tops, etc. I often wonder what happened to those young Afghan men who are sons to someone and it literally brings tears to my eyes even as I write this.
The mask actually makes a lot of sense in my opinion. Not really to scare the enemy, but to act as a sort of disconnect from his actions. I recall a kid's show (cartoon) where an antagonist, sort of a tragic character, states something like "you'd be surprised how little you care about what others think when wearing a [mask]."
Summed it up great. It’s difficult to capture peace. And he did find little pieces of peace in the mayhem he was in. Awesome to see passionate people doing what they love. I hope safety stays with you.
Such a deadly experience it would have been for this man I mean it's so difficult to take pics like those in wars and going to those countries and capturing pictures and drawing out conclusions like that A big salute from my side man and Yeah you already Inspire me and I hope for peace We r humans🥺💚
Peace is very vague term. If for example the war in Ukraine just stoped now, then we have a situation where russia raped, tortured, killed, stole, destroyed cities and occupied territories and is not hold accountable?
@@cicolas_nage it’s not who in charge who are in Ukraine doing those crimes. It’s not only who in charge who are supporting the ones doing this. It’s not who in charge who is paying taxes for this. It’s not who in charge who are not fighting against their government and just let this happen or just simply support it. I know that russian imperialism is not a common knowledge for western people for some reason, but you can ask conscious people from countries neighbouring russia, or some that are already subdued under their empire. Or check on history of russian wars. Don’t be fooled by few “russian liberals” who often can’t even say that Crimea is Ukraine
@@cicolas_nage it’s so stupid. If you charge putin, does Ukrainian child will get his parents back, his home rebuilt, and his land back? You are saying that Wagner soldier after contributing the invasion would just go home to his family and they will enjoy their earned money? Not even paying the reparations, going through denazification camps or giving back the stolen land?
@@cicolas_nage I’m not calling for revenge, but bringing them to justice. They need to pay reparations to rebuild Ukraine and help affected families and something for all the people killed. Also, trials for confirmed criminals, stolen land back and obligatory programs for the society where they will be taught about collective responsibility for the war and what they have done (basically like Denazification that was done for Germany after ww2). Also some form of disarmament would be good too, it would help countries like Georgia who also have two regions occupied by russia now. This scenario is called Ukrainian victory, not just some vague “peace”. And this is the only option that will bring real peace, because peace on russian terms would not be fair and would not be for long
I feel those afghan dudes pain. My first Iraq tour my only way to call home was with a SAT phone and we had to stand on the roof of our patrol base to get signal. We had to huddle behind some sandbags and only at night. I would talk to my mom and tell her how safe the area i was in was whilst hiding from snipers 😆
We had a green on blue attack that killed 2 SF guys and SOTF scrubbed the mission on that 4th day and we went back to Bagram for a day and I called my mom and she was crying her eyes out. I said “Mom? You ok???” She said the news said 2 Americans were just killed in this green on blue attack in NE Afghanistan and you’re in Ne Afghanistan and you were out you said! I was like “Ohhhh yea we heard about that. Yea the whole camp is talking about it. Sounds like it was really bad.” Little did she know I was right there 6 hours ago 😅 the things we do to protect our family’s emotions so they can be worry free
This photographer is a good man and a true artist. We are blessed to have people like this in the world. He sees what others can’t when looking at the same picture. That is a gift.
I was in a province just south of Kunar where the Korengal was in 2014. We were fighting in the Afghanyia valley inside Kapisa Province - and mannnnn it was BAD. We had 5 american KIA in 4 months, 4 special forces operators and 1 10th Mtn soldier from my company. We had foreign fighters, pakistani military, everyone was coming to fight us. I like how you asked youself if you were afraid in the ambushes because, my very first time I wasn't "afraid". As a matter of fact, my reaction in my first ambush was quite comedic. I thought "everyone is just shooting for fun and idk why but im hearing other sounds I never heard before" - it was the rounds from the Taliban cracking by me breaking the sound barrier. The house right behind me, I heard someone shooting from inside it. It didnt sound loud like a rifle, it sounded more like a pistol. Everyones back was to this house, but I was hearing it and EVERYBODY was shooting and 2 RPGs already hit near us so its so loud - but I heard this gun shot coming from this house. I told my teamleader "Im gonna push up to this house, theres a guy shooting behind the wall...im gonna kill him!" so he said "im coming with you lets go!" So we come up to the wall, and I heard him shoot again, but the wall just exploded and pieces of the house blew into my face" - yea that was when I realized bullets make sounds when they hit things. There was no one there shooting at our backs, those were bullets hitting the house right next to me and a fighter was shooting specifically at me and thats when i realized it and got down so fast. For some reason - i still wasnt afraid. I didnt want to make "mistakes". So all I did was just keep my head in the game and fight. We fought for 8 hours. The ambush started at around 10:45 in the morning and finshed off just after 6 and it only stopped because we barely had any assets to continue fighting. We went in simply to just see what happens if we went into that valley and it was 10x worse than we expected. We did 6 more operations in a 4 month window inside this valley. Half of our entire element which was a 12 man Special Forces ODA and a 10 man 10th MTN Division infantry squad - got shot. We lost out Airforce CCT on our first mission out there from getting shot in the leg. It was his first deployment, his first patrol, and was sent home. This happened only 10 mins into the firefight. We had green on blue attacks (thats when the afghan partner forces turn their guns on you and attack you), killed 2 special forces operators. And we had what we called the "Nejrab/Tegab sniper" - kill SGT Shawn M. Farrell in April 0f 2014. All of that, and I never actually felt afraid. There was always a saying "You're always scared. If youre not, youre either lying or you're a psychopath" - but I was neither. I cant explain why. I was just never afraid. I was always a bit nervous, but usually for the other guys - not me. I wish I can explain it...but I cant.
That’s upsetting the afghan soldiers turned on usa and I’m Not shocked because lots of them Just joined the Taliban… Afghanistan was not a place for USA sad but it’s the truth..
@@thescrapaslayer4004 half the time it was because the taliban would kill ANA soldiers and steal their uniforms and come out with us and wait for the right moment. The bigger issue was the other ANA soldiers not telling us they never saw those two guys before. They thought it was good information AFTER 2 of our guys were killed and we just killed the 2 bad “ANA” soldiers. Working with the afghans was an absolute nightmare, but we had to - it was policy for the end of the war. A lot of them would even leave in the middle of the night and just go home because they “Didn’t feel like being out there anymore”. Kinda like the movie 13 hours. Afghanistan is EXACTLY like that. The good guys know the bad guys, they text and call each other. It’s a very strange place for a war. Imthink our biggest mistake in the war was not understanding that. American policy makers and commanders have this idea the rest of the world is like America - but it’s not. Imagine being told to create ,ore jobs in the country, you’re gonna sell your tomato’s to the village down the street, and the other village will buy your rice and you guys can make money again. But what they don’t know is this village and the village down the road hate each other, and been at war for 50 years. The other big issue was translating that. You can’t take an interpreter from Kandahar, bring him to Kunar, and interpret Pashtu over there. Each village and valley almost has their own version of the language. So even the interpreter doesn’t know what theT are saying and interprets it wrong to us. With 2 villages hating each other, sometimes we would have people come on our base and say the village on the other side of the mountain is all taliban and we should bomb it. So we go there, talk to the people, we find no weapons, everyone’s nice to us, it was all a lie to get us to bomb a village they don’t like. Which early in the war was happening slot until we caught onto it. It was such a complicated war and having Iran and Pakistan fund the Taliban made matters much much worse because anytime we found the source for money or weapons and even men - it was inside a country we are not officially at war with.
@@realghostactual you were never meant to win in afghanistan. It was just a money making operation from the start. That entire iraq fiasco had drool all over it. Its Amazing how the duopoly still manages to keep everyone fooled
@@gaswhole We weren't and even being there I knew there was no "winning" this conflict. Iraq is a different story I'll never understand - luckily, I never deployed there but Iraq was going to explode anyway with the rise of Al-Zarqawi - the creator of ISIL. What made Afghanistan complicated was Operation Red Wings in 2004 when that seal team was gunned down and a helicopter shot down. Everyone on the other helicopter swears the missile took a right hand turn and it became evident it was actually a stinger missile. I think they kept this quiet from the public because it would scare everyone, but I think we stayed in longer and pushed into the NE tribal areas to go house to house basically looking for "weapons" as they told the army - but were really looking for stingers. A weapon WE gave them to defeat soviet attack helicopters. I guess we didn't think that one through they still had some left over and they're using them on us now. I think after a while we just got used to continuously rotating out of Afghanistan and the war waged wayyyyyyy longer than it was supposed to. I think as soon as the first teams saw Bin Laden escape through Tora Bora into Pakistan, we should have ended it there. But ofcourse, America will never admit to its people we were defeated or lost.
"I think it's much easier to be a war photographer than a peace photographer. Peace is more difficult to take a picture of" I think we as a species have to learn from people like him.
Seeing the first photograph, I immediately thought what those American families would be feeling when they realize they lost their loved ones all for nothing, thinking they are fighting for their country. Very saddening.
@@wickendiana8310 It was, defeat was inevitable when they invaded Afghanistan. The people who fought/served were just clowns in a circus that had been built in someone else's land.
If you've never seen the documentary Restrepo, nows a good time. Single handedly made me realize what war actually was in these areas and why nothing ever got done
@GAS whole While claiming that yes there was some profiting on a global scale is generally true, I think we're discounting how much the UN/Western powers actually did want to democratize and utilize these areas as another beneficial ally. It gets boring but researching the legitimate infrastructure plans the military had/wanted to put in place for these towns/villages is interesting, but also realizing how much of a logistical failure it was is also important. It was something that was so far out of reach for one global super power to do. Constant attacks on roads and schools built to create wealth in a country that "with enough resources" probably could have changed. But we were there with a foot in the door.
You became a puppet to the lier politicians and punished us for something we were not responsible for but I am happy you all got disgraced and escaped shamefully.
Thank you Franco... that famous saying “a picture speaks a thousand words” couldnt be more true here. I could feel the pictures you captured and it should haunt everyone.
That man shot in car at check point really got me I had to stop the video for 5 mins to process that information what a sad waste of life made me genuinely appreciate my life!! I really enjoyed how he views life an how he sees it through his photography
A sniper doesn't shoot you 6 or more times using automatic weapons. He was shot buy the checkpoint guards who lit up his car for ignoring them. They would have used hand signals, verbal commands and then pointed their weapons at the driver. They also would have been told what the local words for "stop" are, to reduce confusion and mistakes. When all that failed, he would have been shot. It wasn't simply not understanding one hand signal, it was ignoring the hand signals, the shouting, the weapons. That's not a failure to understand one thing, it's ignoring numerous warnings. Yeah, I was in the Corps, we didn't use just one warning before shooting, we give them A LOT of warnings before shooting.
That was a powerful picture of the American soldier going from a man in the middle of war using his mental and physical training skills to kill anything that poses a fatal threat to showing humanity and nurture in a matter of seconds.
THATS what most people want to have, but what most humans will never understand: You can’t have it both ways!! You can’t have humans with the heart of an angel doing the devils job! I would be very interested, if this particular soldier and human being is still alive and doing well, or if he committed suicide by now like 20 US veteran EVERY DAY!! Humans are „funny“ and incapable of learning anything!! I wish every veteran of every country that he/she may win his/her final battle and will overcome the horrifying things he or she had to endure!! Take care.
i love the way he sees things, the way he sees his pictures, there is just something so perfectly artistic about him and not to mention his unreal bravery🔥💯
Lmao. Exactly. This was a propaganda piece, not journalism. 2009 story time hour. Must be a slow news week at VICE. They lost their way 10 years ago. Today they just carry water and white wash for the military industrial complex and empire.
The Korengal was my second deployment to Afghanistan in 2007-2008. I did some advisor training in 2019 before going back to Afghanistan and one of the interpreter instructors was from Afghanistan. We were introducing ourselves and I explained my experience in Afghanistan and that I see Afghanistan as a "second home" due to the time spent there in my adult life. That instructor responded at the end that "if I was a Korengal fighter, Afghanistan isn't a second home, it is my home."
@@Mikhael.mh35 I didn't destroy your country, I spent years there working along side your military. I spent thousands of dollars purchasing items from vendors all over the country boosting the economy. I provided medical supplies to your hospitals to treat people that were injured in your country. I brought water infrastructure to villages and carried sheets, blankets, and pillows on my back to areas that had nothing in the winter time. It's very short sighted to think that one person "destroyed" a country.
@@casualgerm I wouldn't be surprised, I do think it is important to try and speak rationally with the situation. I spent 39 months of my adult life in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2019. There is so much that wasn't told over those years. It's very easy for people to be misguided in their thoughts due to general ignorance.
I was in Korengal in April 2009-October 2010. Everyday was a struggle to survive. On my last week on deployment I was shot 6 times and miraculously survived. Korengal was really hell on earth…
@@micka1948 dude in Aleppo at least you can guess we’re the shots are coming from. Afghanistan is much different then other countries u can’t trust the mountains
That poor man. He was wearing a blazer, maybe a shop keeper or on his way to mosque. Maybe just trying to get home. Either way, simply misunderstanding a foreign hand signal got him gunned down like a dog. 😓😮💨💔
3:38 this made me laugh but also made me emotional... i visited kabul as a child in 2010 and i had no idea this was happening a few hours away. i went to see my relatives in person with my family and it's still the only time i've been there. similarly, these guys took a risk so they could communicate with their families too. so many innocents have lost their lives, their futures, their family members, their limbs. decades of war and tragedy and families torn apart. when america pulled out, i was furious that biden insinuated that afghans haven't fought for their country. afghanistan has many faults and many flaws, but the tens of thousands of afghan soldiers, journalists, and translators who have died did so for their families and for their people. please don't forget their sacrifices because of a corrupt government.
As an Afghan, I hope you're referring to the crimes committed by the U.S/Nato. Most of us Afghans are happy that the U.S/Nato withdrew from Afghanistan. We will always see the U.S/Nato as war criminals and oppressive colonizers.
I was there in 2007 it was insane then I went 20 clicks north and it was way worse and bigger mountains so way closer fighting and then they would have like 300 guys attack our base of 15 people and they would get on our base half way through and we would fight them off and call in air support on our base It was insane. I got shot 9 times and out of 66 ish people in two platoons 63 got shot at least once and we had 23 kia It was so far away and unsupplyable only by helicopters and once they were wheels up it took 45 mins and they knew it. Very very very rough place in 2007
@@lisk0_ you’re talking about second plt battle company think the ones from the documentary. I was in chosen company 1st plt. But yea I’m not exactly sure which battle company plt was there. There’s a book called war written by the guy Sebastian wrote was the guy who made the doc and im on the first pages. But In short yea battle company was there and it was there’s I was just there for a short time along with our leaders then I went up north. Two very different types of fighting between the two places they got shot at a lot but they mostly never saw the enemy Up north the mountains were so big and steep to have eye on us meant they had to be way closer. There wasn’t someone shooting from 1000 meters at us I think our farthest engagement might have been 500 meters and then every so often they’d come with like 200 to 300 fighters and our base only had like 15 to 17 people. Max maybe 20 counting our mortar team. L sorry that was long winded thinking about that places gets my blood moving. Very shorty place to be and anyone who went there and lived should feel lucky
@@justinplaysguitar Respect to you and your brothers who fought it out up there. Had friends (British soldiers) out in Afghan and used to always hear them telling stories about the Americans based in the Korengal.
I served in Kunar Province back in 2010-2011. Pech River Valley, COP Michigan, at the mouth and entrance to Korengal Valley, and FOB Blessing by Nangalam, just six km down the Pech Valley. Still have nightmares about that place but at the same time I miss those days as well. Interesting, that I got this video recommended by UA-cam, just as I was looking through some pictures from my deployments.
you gotta have some serious balls to be a journalist with VICE...don't think most of us have a clue to what lengths you guys go to get 8 mins of footage for us...many blessings to all journalists...especially ViCE 🙏
American Soldier: "If you will wear this mask, you will be protected forever." +5 Friendship points *Afghanistan Army guy will remember that.* *speech increased to 100*
Afghanistan had a powerful army we Afghans are will not forget how all soldiers gives their life's for their land 💜 🙏 sending respect to all hero soldiers. And shame on to the salers politicians ✋
A shame the military leaders inflated troop and equipment numbers to pocket the extra funding. Same issue with Russia and look how it effected the fighting power of both armies.
Ummmmmm….Afghanistan army?!?!? Aren’t those the ones with the 8-12 year old boyfriends?!?! Bacha Bazi is practiced by Afghanistan Army. “Powerful”?!?!? Are Epstein and Weinstein your “hero’s”??? Calm your rhetoric, drama queen. You’re spilling cheap rhetoric to attempt to virtue signal a group you have ZERO clue about. Stop being so needy for attention.
Why US withdrawn from Afghanistan? I think that replacing (plant made/semi-synthetic) heroin with synthetic fentanyl in US users, just wasnt cost effective to hold whole country, for the goods which was replaced by synthesizing similar compound. And on matter of fact drug users in US now prefer fentanyl over heroin.
@@kenz2756 I think no matter what nationality the soldier is, in any war or scenario, it sheds some form of light to show that everyone is still human in the midst of chaos and death
@@crusader_wolf1104 Yeah, but people generally don't share your sentiment. They are unprincipled. When it goes with the doctrine it's a good thing, when it goes against the doctrine it's just villainizing.
Checkpoints were the most difficult posts during/after the invasion. The fact that some people were just casually driving and walking around those streets at the time still baffles me. To us, you're not out on a casual drive and just happened to roll up on a checkpoint manned by Marines. Anyways, I'd love to see more of this mans photographs.
WATCH NEXT: Death of a Palestinian Protester - ua-cam.com/video/pelTbCHYGVs/v-deo.html
No
SeemsGood
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الْبَرَكَةُ وَالإِجْلالُ وَالْمَجْدُ وَالسُّلْطَةُ لِلْجَالِسِ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ وَلِلْحَمَلِ، إِلَى أَبَدِ الآبِدِينَ
Even when im watching a video about an entirely different country i still have to here about domestic problems
Hearing about the man who was shot because he didn't understand what he was doing wrong is very upsetting.
I had previously stated that there were Iraqi nationals...(my apologies for stating that they were Afghanistan nationals)...with the American troops and had asked why they did not say something about the hand signals that were clearly being misunderstood...(it has since been pointed out to me that there were no Iraqi nationals with the American troops)...
In my country we use the American hand signal for stop and the Iraqi hand signal is usually used as part of a conversation...
"...what do you mean..."
"...why...
...or to emphasise a point that you are making...
The driver did not know what the gesture meant and the soldier did not realise that the gesture was not understood...
🇿🇦
@@aprilsmith3683 This was an Iraqi that died, not an Afghan. Early on in the war in Iraq, the U.S. did not have Iraqi allies like they did with the Afghan National Army. Eventually once the U.S. had won the war, they set up an Iraqi army to help fight the insurgency at which point I'm sure they learned more about the culture like you are expressing
It's common sense
@@MrSwccguy common sense for you maybe, but if iraqis invaded usa and told you to stop with their hand signal while shouting in arabic you wouldn't understand either.
The whole unjust and horrifying invasion or iraq for no reason whatsoever is upsetting. GWB and his administration should be charged with war crimes.
He said some real stuff. Great story. Great pictures as well.
said the same thing to myself at the end
Lol, no. The taliban NEVER delt in opium, it was american pharmaceutical companies that planted all those opium fields in Afghanistan, which resulted in the Opium epidemic in America. Wake up.
As a photographer I always tought on his take about how "easy" is to shot war and how hard it is to photograph peace. I'm glad to hear it from someone with that experience. Great, great real stuff here.
tiktokers shoot peace everyday 😅
I get what you're trying to say, but that's BS. Danger aside, even peace is all around us, just because conflict is what sells and what's more relevant doesn't mean good things don't happen every day.
Also, it's all fun and games until you get bombed or the American soldiers shoot you by mistake... There's not much protection for photographers and journalists nowadays.
@@Osama-KIN_TMZ01 Yeah, of course. It’s about the concept, that’s why I used the quotation marks, because of course it’s not easy, it’s very, very hard, but the chock factor is always there.
It’s easier for me to feel a terrible image, a drowned child, a bombing, soldiers broken by war. Peace is a very brief state, very relative and rarely a visual moment. He is not talking about the picture, he’s offering another insight from his pursue as photographer.
I photographed the pandemic and it’s impacts at it’s peak in my city in Brazil, gone inside CTIs, at people’s homes. Everyday I tought my work was going to kill my parents. That I was going to bring the virus home. Always tought about my state of mind while doing it, it’s a thin line between a good impactful necessary image and just a violent one. They both have their values tho.
Today I still struggle to be relevant with my work, because it feels like my “war” pictures are better and stronger than a portrait of a friend, wich is absolutely not true. War is bizarre, painful, human violence at it’s peak and war photographers inspire me in a raw jornalistic human way. I used to daydream about being one, today I want to be as far as possible from any war, but as a journalist I will shot one if someday will be necessary. I just hope I find my inner peace. It is a very hard and philosophical topic.
And nobody said war is more important than peace, by the way.
@@Techie1224 I think we have a different idea of peace lol
@@thalesrenato Understandable, although that's hardest thing about capturing a topic in general, it is that the negative views will always be the most notable and relatable, as they're easier to express sadly. It is harder to showcase the positive side of things in a world where the majority of day-to-day life in it is suffering. Another thing is the difficult aspect of making said positive outlook not seem fake or unrealistically optimistic. Plus, shock value sells while peace is always met with skepticism, usually for a reason, but still... Most people are naturally cynically that even someone doing the right thing is shifted to focus on the something else or turned somehow over to be a bad thing.
I'm not a photographer, but I am an animator/traditional artist. Even if as an artist you have the freedom of a canvas to show whatever you want, whenever you want it to be grounded it eventually slips into something dark or a basic portrait.
I think how I would personally say it, "it is hard to capture war, but it is mentally draining and complex to show peace". Although it is a bit derivative lol.
Either way, I hope you feel much better lately mate. I myself without question had the worst two years in my life during COVID, so I already people had trouble in all fields similarly.
I absolutely adore the tale of the three individuals perched in a tree, with the third member keeping a vigilant lookout while the other two connect with their significant others, whom they are in turn safeguarding. The sheer power and impact of this image is simply astounding!
And the photographer “didn’t understand” and called it “funny”. He’s a joke.
@@tragat885 Americans sometimes use the word "funny" as another way to say "peculiar" or "odd" not that it was laughable, but if he was laughing at their desperation to call home then yes he is a joke but I doubt that's what he meant.
@@ana4rae look up "Bacha Boys" if you want to understand more than these Vice tools would like you to know.
@@ana4raeIs that funny?
Not just an incredible photographer but a master storyteller. A very brave man. Thanks Franco for all the work you do.
There is something powerful in the way he tells his stories. I can't put my finger on it but the way he explains his experiences is super fascinating and scary at the same time
I think it's his precise and calm manner, truly fascinating
Its cause hes seen some shi
It's because he speaks calmly, and slowly, which projects power and gives you more time to paint a picture
I think it might be because English isn’t his native language. The broken English means he doesn’t really fill his sentences with filler words. He gets the point across with as few words as possible.
Genuine. He had a task and with true passion all beit out of wrong and misguided views he still chose to tell the story and capture moments that are pivotal to the argument that this unjustified war was fought with no ‘real’ enemy
The power of photography is immense.
Playboy was great as a youngster
A photograph can tell you a million things and make you think philosophically of certain things. Mr. Pagetti's pictures are fantastic, they tell their own story.
This guy went to the most dangerous places on the planet in the most violent times. Surrounded by armed men on all sides, some really heavily armed. He was there with just a camera.
He also has the biggest balls on the planet!!
There's so much you don't know about the truth, and those in charge of history and the great game.
Come gaze at the stars with me, another traveler disappointed on humans embracing the green dimensions instead of the path he left behind for all of us.
So close to a golden age, yet...
Bruh we Afghans have been in war for decades. The americans come in their diapers. 😂 and run away for their lives. We seek death.
He was probably sent by the same ppl who created those terrorist 🤣
@@TrustThePlan I'll gaze at the stars with you and learn the truth
Apropos balls, how funny would it be to temporrely put a hole through a curtain and stick a dildo on a wooden stick with huge balls through it and tease the sniper. Imagine he takes shots and misses while the dildo wiggles in the wind left and right hahahah.
After 5min he'd give up angry af and pick up the Dashka heavy machine gun and open up like a maniac trying to hit that wiggling thing hahhahah.
I served in OIF 07-09. This is an incredible story. As a soldier in combat with other combat photographers i appreciate this mans work! This man dedicated his life to show people the harsh reality of war while placing himself in danger just as we did day in day out. I commend this man's work and thank you for sharing your story.
I hate seeing my dad hurt so much for what turned out with so little to show. Thank you for your service. I love this country, but I'll be damned if I ever fight for a single ungrateful person in it.
@@cobeylynch4733 The way you ended your comment hurts but I understand. I don't mean that you shouldn't have said it, but more so where your coming from. Service to one's nation is extremely broad, but important, and though the military aspect may bother some, it's one of those necessary evils unfortunately. The military (from my experience) has such a strong sense of comraderie that the big picture (for myself at least) was lost behind the men and women I met in my service. Your father, and family, ended up paying a price that he may not have understood when joining. If he did, I hope you are able to change your perspective of his sacrifice and it meaning little in the grand scheme.
My perspective maybe different from yours but hopefully I was able to share my view in a constructive, non-hostile manner!
I wanted to add something. I'm a complete stranger so please don't take anything I have said without a grain of salt!
@@ethanhowlett 100% agreed
The Soldier gently holding the child in his arms was the most beautiful picture
@S K really
"I know humanity will never stop to fight. But now I want to do peace."
I'll say a quiet prayer that peace will find you. You've seen more than enough pain for many lifetimes.
The problem will be solved if you stop the bandits from the West that are destroying their villages and stealing their land.
There will be peace after many many years now those who survive in my land Afghanistan and saw the deaths of their beloved friends are already on pstd and coma
This guy is living legend
"peace is more difficult to take a picture of" - this quote hits different.
I served in the Korengal (OEF 8-9) with 1-26 IN.
It was extremely hectic and very kinetic. It sucked.
I arrived before Wanat, and I did left seat-right seat with some of the paratroopers who, in part due to our arrival, had to go to Wanat. One of my buddies broke his back purely from the steepness of the valley walls and hiking up and down them for hours on end. I remember that I heard of a dude in another unit who had a heart attack from climbing those valleys.
It was early days, he'd just deployed and he fell out (pretty common when you're getting absolutely SMOKED), but then he collapsed, and he was dead. Dude was 19 or 20. That's how steep those mountains are.
I also served in other parts of Kunar Province but primarily the Pech and its tributary valleys.
We were in contact every day. I don't think there was a single day when I didnt get fired on, we'd take small arms incoming and 30 seconds later we'd be in an intense TIC. We did movement to contacts and patrols and took it to the Taliban as well.
I and many of us were very concerned about getting attacked from above or surrounded, with Taliban getting inside the wire like at Wanat, and at another outpost (Ranch House). Ranch House happened before I arrived.
I served during OIF too before we redeployed to Afghanistan, there it was urban fighting, mostly in eastern Baghdad.
The Pech and the Korengal are totally different to Baghdad.
They are extremely beautiful however, and I've never seen anything quite like them. I don't know if I would go back in peace time if I had the chance.
How many different abbreviations do you guys need to memorize?
When I was 8 years old my sister and I took piano lessons in our neighborhood and when it got dark out I was afraid to walk by myself. My sister told me to pretend that I am a monster and I won't be scared of the monsters. She was right.. it did help. This guy with the halloween mask reminded me of that 💔
Oh my heart 😭
I think this is a great tactic. Why didn't i use this as a child? I used to be so scared as a kid..lol
“In a situation like this if you make a mistake you make a mistake for yourself, and the other.” Wow. Truth.
😳
This brought back memories of my son who was an 101st Airborne Scout in 2008- 2010 in Afghanistan. He showed me some pictures working besides the ANA on mountain tops, etc. I often wonder what happened to those young Afghan men who are sons to someone and it literally brings tears to my eyes even as I write this.
Afghanistan had airborne units in the 1980s!!! My uncle was an Afghan army officer back then and he worked with them
@@meatiest1989 THAT IS AWESOME! How are you? Are you in Afg?
@@VladVlad-ul1io I am in UK. But six relatives were also Afghan KGB KHAD agents!
@@meatiest1989 OH. Difficult job man. Have you ever visited Afg? Do yo have any hope for that land?
@@VladVlad-ul1io I was born in Afghanistan and visited in 2012. Kabul, Jalalabad and Kuz Konar Village. I have no hope
The mask actually makes a lot of sense in my opinion. Not really to scare the enemy, but to act as a sort of disconnect from his actions. I recall a kid's show (cartoon) where an antagonist, sort of a tragic character, states something like "you'd be surprised how little you care about what others think when wearing a [mask]."
it's living life with an air of levity
❤❤
Golden comment
What carton ?
@@sit-insforsithis1568 Yugioh 5D's, the character was Akiza (english dub).
Summed it up great. It’s difficult to capture peace. And he did find little pieces of peace in the mayhem he was in. Awesome to see passionate people doing what they love. I hope safety stays with you.
Such a deadly experience it would have been for this man
I mean it's so difficult to take pics like those in wars and going to those countries and capturing pictures and drawing out conclusions like that
A big salute from my side man and Yeah you already Inspire me and I hope for peace
We r humans🥺💚
Peace is very vague term. If for example the war in Ukraine just stoped now, then we have a situation where russia raped, tortured, killed, stole, destroyed cities and occupied territories and is not hold accountable?
@@cicolas_nage it’s not who in charge who are in Ukraine doing those crimes. It’s not only who in charge who are supporting the ones doing this. It’s not who in charge who is paying taxes for this. It’s not who in charge who are not fighting against their government and just let this happen or just simply support it.
I know that russian imperialism is not a common knowledge for western people for some reason, but you can ask conscious people from countries neighbouring russia, or some that are already subdued under their empire. Or check on history of russian wars. Don’t be fooled by few “russian liberals” who often can’t even say that Crimea is Ukraine
@@cicolas_nage it’s so stupid. If you charge putin, does Ukrainian child will get his parents back, his home rebuilt, and his land back? You are saying that Wagner soldier after contributing the invasion would just go home to his family and they will enjoy their earned money? Not even paying the reparations, going through denazification camps or giving back the stolen land?
@@cicolas_nage I’m not calling for revenge, but bringing them to justice. They need to pay reparations to rebuild Ukraine and help affected families and something for all the people killed. Also, trials for confirmed criminals, stolen land back and obligatory programs for the society where they will be taught about collective responsibility for the war and what they have done (basically like Denazification that was done for Germany after ww2). Also some form of disarmament would be good too, it would help countries like Georgia who also have two regions occupied by russia now.
This scenario is called Ukrainian victory, not just some vague “peace”. And this is the only option that will bring real peace, because peace on russian terms would not be fair and would not be for long
😂😂😂😂 fool much more is good in your country india
His understanding of life is so deep, he can use that to take amazing pictures
I hope they continue this type of journalism, we need more of this.
I feel those afghan dudes pain. My first Iraq tour my only way to call home was with a SAT phone and we had to stand on the roof of our patrol base to get signal. We had to huddle behind some sandbags and only at night. I would talk to my mom and tell her how safe the area i was in was whilst hiding from snipers 😆
We had a green on blue attack that killed 2 SF guys and SOTF scrubbed the mission on that 4th day and we went back to Bagram for a day and I called my mom and she was crying her eyes out. I said “Mom? You ok???” She said the news said 2 Americans were just killed in this green on blue attack in NE Afghanistan and you’re in Ne Afghanistan and you were out you said! I was like “Ohhhh yea we heard about that. Yea the whole camp is talking about it. Sounds like it was really bad.” Little did she know I was right there 6 hours ago 😅 the things we do to protect our family’s emotions so they can be worry free
@@realghostactual what a complete goddamn waste of lives!!
💪
so sad, you had to occupy another country and we should feel sorry for you.
@@abdussamad2471 fr
This photographer is a good man and a true artist. We are blessed to have people like this in the world. He sees what others can’t when looking at the same picture. That is a gift.
“At the end of the road, there is always a light”
Thank you for sharing Franco and Vice 💙 It is heartbreaking what humans do to each other 💔😥
You need to stop just grouping them all as humans cause they're fighting for more than what they could see
Always will be this way. People don't change. Atleast not enough for war to stop...
not really america shouldn’t have been there to begin with
I could listen to this man and his stories for hours
The way he describes the meaning of the photos or the story behind the pictures is captivating! INCREDIBLE WORK!
Thank you Franco for this. There’s always so much more than meets the eye. @Vice, definitely do more videos of these!
I was in a province just south of Kunar where the Korengal was in 2014. We were fighting in the Afghanyia valley inside Kapisa Province - and mannnnn it was BAD. We had 5 american KIA in 4 months, 4 special forces operators and 1 10th Mtn soldier from my company. We had foreign fighters, pakistani military, everyone was coming to fight us. I like how you asked youself if you were afraid in the ambushes because, my very first time I wasn't "afraid". As a matter of fact, my reaction in my first ambush was quite comedic. I thought "everyone is just shooting for fun and idk why but im hearing other sounds I never heard before" - it was the rounds from the Taliban cracking by me breaking the sound barrier. The house right behind me, I heard someone shooting from inside it. It didnt sound loud like a rifle, it sounded more like a pistol. Everyones back was to this house, but I was hearing it and EVERYBODY was shooting and 2 RPGs already hit near us so its so loud - but I heard this gun shot coming from this house. I told my teamleader "Im gonna push up to this house, theres a guy shooting behind the wall...im gonna kill him!" so he said "im coming with you lets go!" So we come up to the wall, and I heard him shoot again, but the wall just exploded and pieces of the house blew into my face" - yea that was when I realized bullets make sounds when they hit things. There was no one there shooting at our backs, those were bullets hitting the house right next to me and a fighter was shooting specifically at me and thats when i realized it and got down so fast. For some reason - i still wasnt afraid. I didnt want to make "mistakes". So all I did was just keep my head in the game and fight. We fought for 8 hours. The ambush started at around 10:45 in the morning and finshed off just after 6 and it only stopped because we barely had any assets to continue fighting. We went in simply to just see what happens if we went into that valley and it was 10x worse than we expected. We did 6 more operations in a 4 month window inside this valley. Half of our entire element which was a 12 man Special Forces ODA and a 10 man 10th MTN Division infantry squad - got shot. We lost out Airforce CCT on our first mission out there from getting shot in the leg. It was his first deployment, his first patrol, and was sent home. This happened only 10 mins into the firefight. We had green on blue attacks (thats when the afghan partner forces turn their guns on you and attack you), killed 2 special forces operators. And we had what we called the "Nejrab/Tegab sniper" - kill SGT Shawn M. Farrell in April 0f 2014. All of that, and I never actually felt afraid. There was always a saying "You're always scared. If youre not, youre either lying or you're a psychopath" - but I was neither. I cant explain why. I was just never afraid. I was always a bit nervous, but usually for the other guys - not me. I wish I can explain it...but I cant.
That’s upsetting the afghan soldiers turned on usa and I’m
Not shocked because lots of them
Just joined the Taliban… Afghanistan was not a place for USA sad but it’s the truth..
@@thescrapaslayer4004 half the time it was because the taliban would kill ANA soldiers and steal their uniforms and come out with us and wait for the right moment. The bigger issue was the other ANA soldiers not telling us they never saw those two guys before. They thought it was good information AFTER 2 of our guys were killed and we just killed the 2 bad “ANA” soldiers. Working with the afghans was an absolute nightmare, but we had to - it was policy for the end of the war. A lot of them would even leave in the middle of the night and just go home because they “Didn’t feel like being out there anymore”. Kinda like the movie 13 hours. Afghanistan is EXACTLY like that. The good guys know the bad guys, they text and call each other. It’s a very strange place for a war. Imthink our biggest mistake in the war was not understanding that. American policy makers and commanders have this idea the rest of the world is like America - but it’s not. Imagine being told to create ,ore jobs in the country, you’re gonna sell your tomato’s to the village down the street, and the other village will buy your rice and you guys can make money again. But what they don’t know is this village and the village down the road hate each other, and been at war for 50 years. The other big issue was translating that. You can’t take an interpreter from Kandahar, bring him to Kunar, and interpret Pashtu over there. Each village and valley almost has their own version of the language. So even the interpreter doesn’t know what theT are saying and interprets it wrong to us. With 2 villages hating each other, sometimes we would have people come on our base and say the village on the other side of the mountain is all taliban and we should bomb it. So we go there, talk to the people, we find no weapons, everyone’s nice to us, it was all a lie to get us to bomb a village they don’t like. Which early in the war was happening slot until we caught onto it. It was such a complicated war and having Iran and Pakistan fund the Taliban made matters much much worse because anytime we found the source for money or weapons and even men - it was inside a country we are not officially at war with.
@@realghostactual you were never meant to win in afghanistan. It was just a money making operation from the start. That entire iraq fiasco had drool all over it. Its Amazing how the duopoly still manages to keep everyone fooled
@@gaswhole We weren't and even being there I knew there was no "winning" this conflict. Iraq is a different story I'll never understand - luckily, I never deployed there but Iraq was going to explode anyway with the rise of Al-Zarqawi - the creator of ISIL. What made Afghanistan complicated was Operation Red Wings in 2004 when that seal team was gunned down and a helicopter shot down. Everyone on the other helicopter swears the missile took a right hand turn and it became evident it was actually a stinger missile. I think they kept this quiet from the public because it would scare everyone, but I think we stayed in longer and pushed into the NE tribal areas to go house to house basically looking for "weapons" as they told the army - but were really looking for stingers. A weapon WE gave them to defeat soviet attack helicopters. I guess we didn't think that one through they still had some left over and they're using them on us now. I think after a while we just got used to continuously rotating out of Afghanistan and the war waged wayyyyyyy longer than it was supposed to. I think as soon as the first teams saw Bin Laden escape through Tora Bora into Pakistan, we should have ended it there. But ofcourse, America will never admit to its people we were defeated or lost.
@@realghostactual you are spot on me thinks. Both the Tora bora and the Kunduz airlift chapters allowed Pakistan to stay in the game.
Thanks for sharing this with us
The only Ad I got thru this revealing video...was during the heart wrenching "Picture of No Communication".
C'mon UA-cam, you're better than that.
This one made me cry. Really powerful stories. "I am not a war photographer. I am a peace photographer. Peace is more difficult."
"I think it's much easier to be a war photographer than a peace photographer. Peace is more difficult to take a picture of"
I think we as a species have to learn from people like him.
Oh please. Honestly we all know war is bad. You dont need a photographer to tell you that.
That guy with the mask is a badass!
I’d be scared shitless if I saw that in person
A traitor hiding behind a mask 🐀
Literally Ghost from MW
Poor illiterate afghan
i think he wear that mask not because he believe u.s soldier joke,he think that mask as a souvenir from u.s soldier who he never seen again
Seeing the first photograph, I immediately thought what those American families would be feeling when they realize they lost their loved ones all for nothing, thinking they are fighting for their country. Very saddening.
you mean the picture of no communication?
They fought for their country in some way I dont think thier lives were all lost in vein
@@wickendiana8310 It was, defeat was inevitable when they invaded Afghanistan. The people who fought/served were just clowns in a circus that had been built in someone else's land.
@@fsdfsdfsd4561 they still got the guy they came looking for in the first place
@@wickendiana8310 you mean the man the CIA trained and funded?
I never ever ever forget. If you have a camera you know more about anything than everyone.
As a Iraq Afghanistan vet I really like this guy he’s real and dosent seem bias
I did what I did thanks to the bloody guys watching my back. thank you
These photography series are great vignettes to the events and the people.. good stuff Vice!
If you've never seen the documentary Restrepo, nows a good time. Single handedly made me realize what war actually was in these areas and why nothing ever got done
know where i can watch at? preferably for free
@@litiumminer2850 I think it might be on Netflix or UA-cam. I watched it years ago and I still vividly remember it. Especially towards the end.
@@litiumminer2850 watchdocumentaries.com/restrepo/
nothing was ever meant to get done. The political crooks on every side were making a monkey of their country and getting rich
@GAS whole While claiming that yes there was some profiting on a global scale is generally true, I think we're discounting how much the UN/Western powers actually did want to democratize and utilize these areas as another beneficial ally. It gets boring but researching the legitimate infrastructure plans the military had/wanted to put in place for these towns/villages is interesting, but also realizing how much of a logistical failure it was is also important. It was something that was so far out of reach for one global super power to do. Constant attacks on roads and schools built to create wealth in a country that "with enough resources" probably could have changed. But we were there with a foot in the door.
I fought in the Korengal back in 2005. 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines. Seeing these pictures brought back memories
Semper Fi Brother 👍
You became a puppet to the lier politicians and punished us for something we were not responsible for but I am happy you all got disgraced and escaped shamefully.
@@ajrockinshockin2893 Semper Fidelis bro
Semper Fidelis bro
Thank you Franco... that famous saying “a picture speaks a thousand words” couldnt be more true here.
I could feel the pictures you captured and it should haunt everyone.
That man shot in car at check point really got me I had to stop the video for 5 mins to process that information what a sad waste of life made me genuinely appreciate my life!! I really enjoyed how he views life an how he sees it through his photography
U.S war crime
A sniper doesn't shoot you 6 or more times using automatic weapons. He was shot buy the checkpoint guards who lit up his car for ignoring them. They would have used hand signals, verbal commands and then pointed their weapons at the driver. They also would have been told what the local words for "stop" are, to reduce confusion and mistakes. When all that failed, he would have been shot. It wasn't simply not understanding one hand signal, it was ignoring the hand signals, the shouting, the weapons. That's not a failure to understand one thing, it's ignoring numerous warnings. Yeah, I was in the Corps, we didn't use just one warning before shooting, we give them A LOT of warnings before shooting.
@@nobodyspecial4702 I always need to view a subject like this from all angles so thankyou for your views
@@Ishizaky1 proberly not mate
@@sudarshangopinathan5904 We're going to pretend that you can deal with your issues yourself, but somehow I think you still won't.
Camera man never dies
I got the chills from his closing statement.
I would love to see his peace segment wouldn't you?
That was a powerful picture of the American soldier going from a man in the middle of war using his mental and physical training skills to kill anything that poses a fatal threat to showing humanity and nurture in a matter of seconds.
THATS what most people want to have, but what most humans will never understand:
You can’t have it both ways!!
You can’t have humans with the heart of an angel doing the devils job!
I would be very interested, if this particular soldier and human being is still alive and doing well, or if he committed suicide by now like 20 US veteran EVERY DAY!!
Humans are „funny“ and incapable of learning anything!!
I wish every veteran of every country that he/she may win his/her final battle and will overcome the horrifying things he or she had to endure!!
Take care.
That's human nature. Clearly you've never left Your house Mr Marcos.
i love the way he sees things, the way he sees his pictures, there is just something so perfectly artistic about him and not to mention his unreal bravery🔥💯
But how does that explain homosexual special rights ?
@@benjurqunov brev you lost me🤣🤣
that photo of the soldier cradling the kid- hits different man...
Man this photographer has guts and purpose. I wouldn't choose to do this line of work.
This is the best part "peace is the difficult to capture" Sir you are inspiring thank you
Art in all its forms is beautiful. War in any form is it's antithesis.
I think war has this weird juxtaposition of having a morbid beauty in it whilst just being total and completely annihilation
@@raphaellauf7786 if you were in a war, i doubt you would say that.
Thank you for your service and risking your life to bring this amazing story out
100% and thank all for speaking out against wrong. Both sides of the table.
That is a video worth seeing. thanks for the upload and experience behind it!
“A picture of no communication.” Wow what powerful symbolism for life with that story.
Thank you for sharing your art and experience behind the picture. Each image is a whole world.
Im not an artist, i'm a photograpaher .
"I think it is much easier to be a war photographer than a peace photographer. Peace is more difficult to take picture of."
Hard ass quote
I admire Franco Pagetti a lot. Wish to watch more insightful videos like this one. Thanks for sharing!
He talks a lot of smack
The guy is a huge propagandist. This is not journalism.
As an Afghan I try to avoid the news as much as possible. Catholic missionaries brought us here is 2002. I was a young child. This just hurts.
It is sad for the person who doesn't understand a sign
It's sad how war has turn people's life's 🥺🥺🥺💔🤦♀️ I pray God help us all 🙏🙏✝️
please upload a documentary on America's Kindness in Abu Ghraib.
they were also quite kind in Iraq and across many countries in the middle east....
Lmao. Exactly. This was a propaganda piece, not journalism. 2009 story time hour. Must be a slow news week at VICE. They lost their way 10 years ago. Today they just carry water and white wash for the military industrial complex and empire.
The Korengal was my second deployment to Afghanistan in 2007-2008. I did some advisor training in 2019 before going back to Afghanistan and one of the interpreter instructors was from Afghanistan. We were introducing ourselves and I explained my experience in Afghanistan and that I see Afghanistan as a "second home" due to the time spent there in my adult life. That instructor responded at the end that "if I was a Korengal fighter, Afghanistan isn't a second home, it is my home."
Do you regret now for destroying my country?
@@Mikhael.mh35 I didn't destroy your country, I spent years there working along side your military. I spent thousands of dollars purchasing items from vendors all over the country boosting the economy. I provided medical supplies to your hospitals to treat people that were injured in your country.
I brought water infrastructure to villages and carried sheets, blankets, and pillows on my back to areas that had nothing in the winter time. It's very short sighted to think that one person "destroyed" a country.
@@Mikhael.mh35 why is your name in Russian?
@@dsc201knoc he's a troll.
@@casualgerm I wouldn't be surprised, I do think it is important to try and speak rationally with the situation. I spent 39 months of my adult life in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2019. There is so much that wasn't told over those years. It's very easy for people to be misguided in their thoughts due to general ignorance.
Vice. Sometimes you are just bad, but sometimes you are beyond amazing! What an amazing vid. Thank you
This was a very strong piece. But that story about the soldier shooting that man due to a misunderstanding. That's just beyond sad.
Peace is more difficult to take picture of. This man is very brave and has a good soul.
amazing pictures, went through so many emotions all along the video when picturing the reality of this harsh war! Thanks for this eye-opening video!
I was in Korengal in April 2009-October 2010. Everyday was a struggle to survive. On my last week on deployment I was shot 6 times and miraculously survived. Korengal was really hell on earth…
Man o man tell me about the battle for Aleppo was insane
@@micka1948 dude in Aleppo at least you can guess we’re the shots are coming from. Afghanistan is much different then other countries u can’t trust the mountains
You must have replaced us, big red one?
@user-nh6zm2ie8p Good. Our Taliban heros were handing you foreign invader terrorists your asses. Glad u were sent running!
@@alanhelton yup 1-26
This was very touching.....
That poor man.
He was wearing a blazer, maybe a shop keeper or on his way to mosque. Maybe just trying to get home. Either way, simply misunderstanding a foreign hand signal got him gunned down like a dog. 😓😮💨💔
What country are you army of?
"If you are afraid, you make mistakes."
What a video 💯 we need more
3:38 this made me laugh but also made me emotional... i visited kabul as a child in 2010 and i had no idea this was happening a few hours away. i went to see my relatives in person with my family and it's still the only time i've been there. similarly, these guys took a risk so they could communicate with their families too. so many innocents have lost their lives, their futures, their family members, their limbs. decades of war and tragedy and families torn apart. when america pulled out, i was furious that biden insinuated that afghans haven't fought for their country. afghanistan has many faults and many flaws, but the tens of thousands of afghan soldiers, journalists, and translators who have died did so for their families and for their people. please don't forget their sacrifices because of a corrupt government.
As an Afghan, I hope you're referring to the crimes committed by the U.S/Nato. Most of us Afghans are happy that the U.S/Nato withdrew from Afghanistan. We will always see the U.S/Nato as war criminals and oppressive colonizers.
USA is the real problem and war criminal.
I was there in 2007 it was insane then I went 20 clicks north and it was way worse and bigger mountains so way closer fighting and then they would have like 300 guys attack our base of 15 people and they would get on our base half way through and we would fight them off and call in air support on our base It was insane. I got shot 9 times and out of 66 ish people in two platoons 63 got shot at least once and we had 23 kia It was so far away and unsupplyable only by helicopters and once they were wheels up it took 45 mins and they knew it. Very very very rough place in 2007
Were you in the Korengal with 2nd Pl, 2-503rd IR or just before/after their deployment?
@@lisk0_ you’re talking about second plt battle company think the ones from the documentary. I was in chosen company 1st plt. But yea I’m not exactly sure which battle company plt was there. There’s a book called war written by the guy Sebastian wrote was the guy who made the doc and im on the first pages. But In short yea battle company was there and it was there’s I was just there for a short time along with our leaders then I went up north. Two very different types of fighting between the two places they got shot at a lot but they mostly never saw the enemy Up north the mountains were so big and steep to have eye on us meant they had to be way closer. There wasn’t someone shooting from 1000 meters at us I think our farthest engagement might have been 500 meters and then every so often they’d come with like 200 to 300 fighters and our base only had like 15 to 17 people. Max maybe 20 counting our mortar team. L sorry that was long winded thinking about that places gets my blood moving. Very shorty place to be and anyone who went there and lived should feel lucky
@@justinplaysguitar Respect to you and your brothers who fought it out up there. Had friends (British soldiers) out in Afghan and used to always hear them telling stories about the Americans based in the Korengal.
Good, that's what invaders get. TaliChads sent you running away like the coward dogs you always were.
The story about the man with the mask was really interesting
Yes, all 20 seconds of it.
What a great man, very good photographs
War is disgustingly horrible... but we can't look away. The men, women, and myself left a piece there. We will never be whole.
The photo of the grunt with the baby is a photo of the American fighting spirit personified
😢
And yet these retard foreigners always say we were there for the purpose of destruction and death, they fucking know nothing
People like Franco share the world 🌍 through their photos 🖤
I served in Kunar Province back in 2010-2011. Pech River Valley, COP Michigan, at the mouth and entrance to Korengal Valley, and FOB Blessing by Nangalam, just six km down the Pech Valley. Still have nightmares about that place but at the same time I miss those days as well. Interesting, that I got this video recommended by UA-cam, just as I was looking through some pictures from my deployments.
missing bombing people and invading countries? sick!
@@mirwaiz9619 Assisting the government of Afghanistan fighting the taliban is invading? News to me.
hey bro, I have a nightmare too but at the same time I miss the company of my soldier friends and the two months spent up there
I really really hope Franco writes a book. The way he story tells is unbelievable
Vice does the best job of keeping us informed with the raw information
you gotta have some serious balls to be a journalist with VICE...don't think most of us have a clue to what lengths you guys go to get 8 mins of footage for us...many blessings to all journalists...especially ViCE 🙏
We were just soldiers. Not bad guys. Not monsters. Just kids wanting to save the world, that’s what we believed, that’s how we got through.
American Soldier: "If you will wear this mask, you will be protected forever."
+5 Friendship points
*Afghanistan Army guy will remember that.*
*speech increased to 100*
I hope he is still alive and living his life to the fullest. Such pure kind hearted soldier
Afghanistan Army Guy:
Drum roll, Luck level up to 100
You've unlocked a new perk!
"Mysterious Stranger."
Lmao 💀
This comment made me puke +500 go back to reddit 🤣🤣
great watch! will definitely watch more wasr stories narrated by him! good work Vice News always.
Love that VICE News actually shows people these issues, amazing journalism! 👍👍👍
Afghanistan had a powerful army we Afghans are will not forget how all soldiers gives their life's for their land 💜 🙏 sending respect to all hero soldiers. And shame on to the salers politicians ✋
A shame the military leaders inflated troop and equipment numbers to pocket the extra funding. Same issue with Russia and look how it effected the fighting power of both armies.
They have no shame
I do food videos while high af on my UA-cam channel.
Ummmmmm….Afghanistan army?!?!?
Aren’t those the ones with the 8-12 year old boyfriends?!?!
Bacha Bazi is practiced by Afghanistan Army.
“Powerful”?!?!?
Are Epstein and Weinstein your “hero’s”???
Calm your rhetoric, drama queen.
You’re spilling cheap rhetoric to attempt to virtue signal a group you have ZERO clue about.
Stop being so needy for attention.
@Alex Perez
Yeah but…when they ran they took their 8 year old boyfriends with them.
So “brave”.
🙄
Why US withdrawn from Afghanistan? I think that replacing (plant made/semi-synthetic) heroin with synthetic fentanyl in US users, just wasnt cost effective to hold whole country, for the goods which was replaced by synthesizing similar compound. And on matter of fact drug users in US now prefer fentanyl over heroin.
Ask Trump.
Us withdrew because they wasn’t welcome there. It was easy to beat the taliban but to govern the country impossible the people wanted taliban rule
@@russell6075 USA was weak
@@chinavirus841 thats why they obliterated them
@@russell6075 again USA is weak, an average Afghanistan soldier would rag doll a USA marine , you couldn’t win against goat herders LOL
If interested, there are wonderful documentaries on Death Valley called Korengal and Restrepo... Amazing cinematography!
I’ve got a few vids from eastern Afghanistan on my channel.
@@udonenomee2117 I'll take a look, thanks!
“At the end of the road,there is always a light.”
I like how he isn’t photographing war, but humanity and human stories
Brilliant but brutal
That photo of the American soldier saving the baby is really amazing. Really touched me.
Did he save the baby or put it at risk? Imagine seeing a Russian with a baby on Ukraine. Isn't that savior complex?
@@kenz2756 I think no matter what nationality the soldier is, in any war or scenario, it sheds some form of light to show that everyone is still human in the midst of chaos and death
@@crusader_wolf1104 Yeah, but people generally don't share your sentiment. They are unprincipled. When it goes with the doctrine it's a good thing, when it goes against the doctrine it's just villainizing.
In fairness, he just arrested that baby's relative for being a suspected insurgent. So who was he really saving him from?
Killing his familiy first yes
God bless Afghanistan and its beautiful people there!
Who are you?
USA lost keep crying 😂
Thank you vice 👍🏾🔥🔥🤘🏾🇨🇱🇭🇹
I could listen to this guy for hours.
Checkpoints were the most difficult posts during/after the invasion. The fact that some people were just casually driving and walking around those streets at the time still baffles me. To us, you're not out on a casual drive and just happened to roll up on a checkpoint manned by Marines. Anyways, I'd love to see more of this mans photographs.
Stay in your own country next time.
USA and it allies deserve to be on the the international justice court due to war crime they did against that country
This man is more than a photographer , he is a poet
The IS insurgency in Afghanistan has been worse since the US & allied troops left.
You don't know nothing
I'm from Afghanistan and it is much better now
You only believe what you see on TV lies
Yup
Really because I was there 2002-04 where did you get this information of yours from?
@@Anonymous-yc9fl IS didn't exist then. They began their insurgency there in 2015. It intensified when the allied troops left in 2021.
@@Anonymous-yc9fl common sense