VICE
Season 2 Episode 1 - The Afghan Money Pit & the Pacification of Rio
The U.S. has spent nearly $100 billion on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, the most spent on any country in history. But John Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, has found that much of that money has been wasted and misused, and has even fallen into the hands of the Taliban. Shane Smith heads to Afghanistan for a tour of American taxpayer dollars gone down the drain. Rio de Janeiro is working hard to remedy its reputation as a drug and murder capital in time for the upcoming World Cup and Olympics. The Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE) has been charged with pacifying the slums (favelas), but BOPE's military occupation of increasing numbers of favelas has been criticized as heavy-handed. Some corrupt members of the BOPE, together with ex-police, have formed militia gangs of their own and are controlling many favelas by sinister means, openly extorting, torturing, killing and making criminals disappear. Still, there are hundreds of favelas, untouched by pacification, that remain under the control of drug gangs who act with complete impunity. Ben Anderson looks behind the picturesque façade of Rio's marketing campaign to reveal the dark underbelly of the city.
Episodes in Season 2
The Afghan Money Pit & the Pacification of Rio
30 min
Greenland Is Melting & Bonded Labor
30 min
American Scrap & Children of the Drones
30 min
A Syria of Their Own & White Gold
30 min
Terrorist University & Armageddon Now
30 min
Rocky Mountain High & North Korean Defectors
30 min
The Pink Gang Rebellion & Genetic Passport
30 min
The Resource Curse & Deliver Us from Drought
30 min
Crude Awakening & The Enemy of My Enemy
30 min
Playing with Nuclear Fire & No Man Left Behind
30 min
Heroin Warfare & The Coldest War
30 min
Surveillance City & The Forgotten War
30 min
