A colleague of mine emailed some recent photos from Afghanistan ... thought y'all might enjoy seeing them. We got yer cute kids, we got yer stunning views, we got .... well take a gander and see.
Cute kid #1:
Stunning view 1 (from Gar summit):
Lots more in the rest of the post, including photos of the new Afghan National Military Academy cadets taking their oaths.
A senior Colonel takes a break from other duties to climb Gar summit, near Kabul:
And here's the approach he used:
That's Kabul down below:
The winter wheat is in the fields:
Old Soviet tanks, too:
Some of the kids are busy selling things:
Others are playing:
and a few are shy:
Meanwhile their elders tend their animals:
National police taking a break:
National Military Academy of Afghanistan cadets march out to the oath ceremony. As with West Point in the early days of the United States, the new academy is helping to create a group of leaders with allegiance to the country as a whole, as the poster suggests.
And the oath is administered:
Constructing a shrine at the grave of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir. Named a National Hero in 2002, his forces routed the Soviets but he came into conflict with the Taliban, who murdered him in 2001.
Hmmm a cold day, blue skyes and a mountain that deserves to be climbed.
It is nice if all landmines have been removed.
Well said J, and I had thoughts along the same lines about Iraq when I was there, if they'd just sell their oil, grow and sell their dates, promote "ancient history" tourism, etc, the country would not do to badly. And the mountains up in the NE of Iraq are probably nice too (I was only in the middle section of Iraq.) KJB43