The Dutch parliament in The Hague argues over extending its military mission in Afghanistan, a debate that sends VPRO's Backlight team to the region for answers. Polish director Mariusz Pilis travels into territory controlled by Taliban fighters, sitting with commanders and rank-and-file soldiers who describe their faith and their ideals, and who keep turning the question back on him: why did Western troops come here in the first place? Olaf Oudheusden takes the diplomatic side, interviewing journalist Robert Fisk, former UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, and Pakistan expert Ahmed Rashid, all of whom question what purpose continued Western presence still serves. Richard Holbrooke, the American diplomat managing Afghanistan policy for the Obama administration, argues the opposite case, warning that withdrawal would carry historic consequences for the country. Afghan leaders interviewed want foreign forces gone entirely, insisting the country's future should be shaped on its own terms. The film sets these views side by side after seven years of war, without resolving which one wins the argument in The Hague.