Commandos Documentary

[Hyun Orth]

Hostedby Gregory Warner, guest-hosted by author Mansi Choksi, and drawing on years of in-depth reporting in India by NPR correspondent Lauren Frayer, "Love Commandos" applies Rough Translation's signature, nuanced portrayal of culture and history to what is at once a true crime story and a thoughtful exploration of marriage in India at a time of change. Listeners will meet the Commandos' founder, the enigmatic Sanjoy Sachdev, who now faces charges of extortion. What are the social forces that gave rise to the Commandos, and how did the group manage to operate with little oversight for close to a decade? As Sachdev faces allegations of abuse, some love couples are left looking for other ways to break free from their parents' expectations without severing ties to tradition.

"Over the last six years, Rough Translation has built a loyal, global audience, and 'Love Commandos' is a true-life thriller that I hope will resonate whether you're listening in Montana or Mumbai," said Warner. "Many of us might relate to the feeling of invincibility that can accompany falling in love. The series explores how these couples, in the wake of one brave romantic choice, are actually quite vulnerable."

"Two in every three Indians are under the age of 35; no other country has more young people. Yet, we are torn about whether it is acceptable to be young and do the things young people do," said Choksi. "I grew up in India and I've spent most of the past decade thinking about why Indian society does not implode from the pressures of so many young people pushing against what we want and what we are expected to want. This year, working with Rough Translation, I got to talk about those obsessions."

"What I love about Rough Translation is that it's like twisting a kaleidoscope: You enter a story thinking it will be one thing, and emerge with an entirely new perspective on the other side," said Irene Noguchi, who leads NPR's Enterprise Storytelling Unit. "Listeners are going to enjoy this series. Whether you grew up in a culture of arranged marriages or not, there's a universality that people can relate to about that obligation to your family sometimes battling the obligation to your heart. It's such a beautiful gem crafted by Gregory, Lauren, Mansi and the team, and will help listeners fall in love with our documentary-style series all over again."

As thousands of frightened civilians hurried to Kabul airport in mid-August 2021 in a bid to escape Taliban rule, several dozen Afghan commando soldiers diligently provided security and helped fellow Afghans and Brits to board flights.

They had been ordered by the British military to do so and, as their unit had been doing for two decades, they followed their orders. Having worked closely alongside the British, receiving UK salaries and embarking on joint missions in the fight against the Taliban, they were confident that they would be saved once they had fulfilled these duties.

In the latest in our Left Behind series, in collaboration with The Independent and Sky News, we verified dozens of cases in which the Taliban has beaten, tortured or killed former commandos who served in two special forces units trained and funded by the UK.

We found documentary evidence that members of CF333 and ATF444 received a salary from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The ATF444s received this until 2014, when Polish forces took charge of the unit. The CF333s were paid by the British right up until August 2021.

We obtained a list of members of CF333 and ATF444 compiled by a former CF333 member who had previously fled to the UK. We started reaching out to them one by one, contacting more than 100 people overall. Many were able to provide photos, certificates and other documents to show that they served in the units. One had what appears to be a British pay slip with a salary amount and a signature approving it. Some of the former Triples reported that they had been arrested and tortured by the Taliban since August 2021.

Verifying alleged cases of torture or murder was challenging, given the absence of police reports or death certificates in Afghanistan and the lack of visual evidence. Multiple former commandos told us the Taliban would intentionally keep them in custody until their wounds healed, as they do not want to leave any evidence that could be reported in the media. Families were also threatened not to speak out about harms to their loved ones.

Nonetheless, we were able to gather a considerable amount of evidence supporting accounts of torture or murder. Through visual evidence of injuries including lashes to the back and beatings to the face, and in some cases dead bodies, as well as corroborating testimony gathered from the victims, family members and witnesses, we were able to verify 24 cases of harm. Of these, six were murders.

To build up a picture of the close partnership between the Triples and the UK military, we spoke to a number of British veterans who served alongside the units, including former members of UK Special Forces (UKSF). They confirmed that the Triples were paid a salary by the British government, and that for years they shared a base with British military personnel and regularly went on patrol with and took orders from them. We also used Osint techniques to dig out British Army manuals, US military and Nato/Isaf documents and other materials which describe the work of the Triples and their partnership with the UK.

The UK has turned away hundreds of Afghan commandos paid and trained by the British military. Some had complained about or say they witnessed war crimes by the same UK forces who were given veto power over their applications, with insiders warning of a conflict of interest.

Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines turned twenty a couple of weeks ago. My enthusiasm for stealthy team tactics diversions rekindled by the magnificent Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, I thought it was high time I reacquainted myself with the game that single-handedly established the sub-genre. Is Pyro Studios' debut offering as maddeningly difficult as I remember? Is it still worth playing? Here's wot I think.

The following two sentences aren't unconnected. The interior of my fridge's freezer compartment no longer glitters and my kitchen sink cold tap no longer drips. I've been playing Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines all week.

There are various ways of dealing with CBEL fury. I deal with it by doing household chores. After twenty minutes wielding a spanner or a damp cloth I'm usually ready to return to a game that punishes impatience, lack of imagination, and careless quicksaving with the ludological equivalent of a Luger shot to the back of the head.

Happily, the rage-quits almost always come at the end of multi-hour sessions of thoroughly absorbing sentry slaying and patrol avoiding. I keep coming back because I know deep-down there must be some way of distracting that guard on the roof of the blockhouse for long enough to knife then carry away the one by the pole barrier; there has to be some ruse or combination of ruses that will finally allow me to paddle the dinghy across the river unobserved. Like tough crosswords or sudokus, the game's intricate military puzzles can look much less intimidating when viewed through fresh rather than tired eyes. And unlike tough crosswords or sudokus, the solution I eventually settle on probably won't look anything like yours.

Pyro's singular Sixties-tinged take on WW2 is another reason I'm willing to forgive and forget the inevitable moments of exasperation. Unlike many other mainstream 1939-45 titles, this one doesn't care a fig about Saving Private Ryan. It has cinematic touchstones but they're older and more fanciful. Gonzo Surez and co. lovingly draw on Where Eagle Dare (1968), The Guns of Navarone (1961), and The Dirty Dozen (1967) for their mission concepts, and, as a result, CBEL abounds with exotic objectives and avoids sanctimonious hand-wringing.

Amazingly, considering the amount of work that has gone into making sure the levels look good and play well, CBEL is almost entirely silent when weapons aren't firing or characters aren't muttering their repetitive vocal cues. The lack of mood-enhancing ambient sounds and the very limited/narrow skill sets of the six commandos are arguably the game's most significant shortcomings.

Compared to Mugen's marauders, the Green Beret's band of brothers is, it has to be said, a pretty inept and charmless bunch. I'd forgotten just how slim and rigid each team member's skill repertoire was.

With his ability to divert using a radio decoy, kill with knife or pistol, carry corpses and barrels, bury himself and climb certain cliffs and walls, Tiny, the Green Beret, is by far your most useful and accomplished asset. The others - the Sapper (mantraps, grenades, and timebombs), the Diver (speargun, aqualung, inflatable boat) the Sniper (sniper rifle, first aid kit) the Spy (disguises, poison syringe, first aid kit) and the Driver (vehicles, submachine gun, first aid kit) - while rarely idle for entire outings struggle to get out from under Tiny's big shadow.

Come to CBEL after time in the company of Shadow Tactics, Desperados and Commandos 2 and the lack of diversionary and non-lethal tools will probably startle. Pyro clearly realised they'd missed a trick because in Beyond the Call of Duty, the excellent eight-mission add-on, they added a wealth of new distraction techniques (stone, cigarette packet, lipstick...) and equipment (blackjack, chloroform, handcuffs). Distributed throughout the team, these extra options make for much more varied antics and a much more even division of labour. In Beyond the Call of Duty you don't instinctively jab '1' at the start of every outing.

Gamers backtracking through the genre will also need to adjust to the lack of action coordination aids. Want the Driver to open fire on that patrol with his SMG the second the Sapper's grenade detonates in the MG nest and the Sniper fells the watcher on the clifftop? You'll need to switch operative preternaturally swiftly and have a steady hand and good memory for hotkeys as there's no system for executing multiple pre-prepared actions at the same time.

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