This Is What Winning Looks Like

This Is What Winning Looks Like is a documentary film about the War in Afghanistan by Ben Anderson.[1]

Initially in 2007, Anderson was documenting the "undermanned [and] underequipped" British forces fighting the Taliban in Helmand, Afghanistan.[2] The documentary begins in December 2012, when Anderson followed U.S. Marines as they trained Afghan security forces to take control for when U.S. forces leave Afghanistan; the film shows that the transition is less than seamless as there are killings and sexual molestation of children, heavy drug addiction, corruption, and false imprisonment of prisoners by Afghan police officers; at the same time, there are Afghan officers who truly do want to enforce law justly. Further perceived negative impact comes from American and British officials only receiving and broadcasting the message that they are succeeding in Afghanistan, even in spite of the beliefs of U.S. Marine Major Bill Steuber, the commanding officer of the police advisory team. Anderson says, "All it is now is about getting out and saving face. We're [U.S. forces] not leaving because we achieved our goals. We're leaving because we've given up on achieving those goals." [3]

A guest columnist in Foreign Policy wrote that the film "shows what most coalition forces in Helmand, and Afghanistan more broadly, experience".[4]