Afghanistan, November, 2009

[minidog]

President Barack Obama recently announced that he was determined to "finish the job" in Afghanistan, and aides signaled to allies that he would send as many as 25,000 to 30,000 additional American troops there. Obama will formally announce his decision in a national address at 8 p.m. Tuesday from the Military Academy at West Point. As casualties mount on both sides, 2009 is shaping up to be the deadliest year yet for coalition troops - twice as deadly as 2008. American and Afghan officials have been encouraged by the recent rise of independent anti-Taliban militias in Afghanistan, even though their emergence is recent and supporting them raises fears of the consequences of arming and training Islamic militants. Collected here are images of the country and conflict over the past month, part of an ongoing monthly series on Afghanistan. (42 photos total)

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/11/afghanistan_november_2009.html

 

[Philbert]

#96 comment said it quite succinctly...bring it to them and keep it away from home.

Some really good photos...anyone with some desire to get why the Taliban needs to be squashed asap, Google Bamiyan Bhuddas; Ghengis Khan had them carved into the mountainside, painted with ground up Lapis-Lazuli paint and decorated with gems etc...you could climb inside several stories and look out over the Bamiyan Valley from inside the head...of course the Taliban blew these wonders of the World into powder.
I was lucky enough to have stood in front of them and heard the wind whistle over the mountaintops and cairns, and watch the Kootchi women working in nearby fields. Bamiyan is in the Mazi-Sharif region, and the BEST hashish comes from the Balkh area nearby.

I only heard this, of course...as I was there 6 months after the King had abdicated, Hashish was "illegal", as was opium; and I would never break the law.:eek:
Or did I? I can't seem to remember...:rofl:

Oh yeah...the Buskazi rider is a Mongol, a descendant of the Genghis Khan 1000 left to populate the North; he was the last actual conqueror of Afghanistan.
Buskazi is a balls to the wall hardcore game they play...

 

[tartanterrier]

At least that might pave the way for another Generation Kill series :nanner: