Camp Victory, Afghanistan

Between 2005 and 2008, the makers of Camp Victory, Afghanistan followed a team of American army officers while training a weathered Afghan general and his troops. The documentary is both an inquiry into the reality of the exit strategy and a story about unexpected friendships that develop in times of war.

In order to fight the Taliban, the United States have stuffed Afghanistan with military aid. The American army training unit in Herat has to turn the 207^th corps into a modern and professional army capable of bringing protection, stability, peace and justice to a severely damaged country.
It quickly becomes clear that creating such a military force requires special skills. The Afghans and Americans are thrown together and turn out to have more in common than one would expect. The army build-up is slow and painstaking, though: 80% of the soldiers are illiterate, most of them joined the military to earn a decent salary and thus lack motivation, and weaponry is obsolete. Furthermore, they are faced with a dangerous and elusive enemy. The United States have invested hundreds of billions and time is running out. Will they succeed in building up a professional army in a few years’ time?