Nemo Live Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 (edited) Recent scenes from AfghanistanSince he took office in January, President Barack Obama has ordered an additional 21,000 U.S. troops to be deployed to Afghanistan, which will bring the full U.S. deployment there to a total of 60,000 troops, joining 39,000 coalition troops from 43 countries. The U.S. administration plans to impose benchmarks for progress on both Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, who struggle with problems tied to tribal rivalries, illegal drug production and distribution, religious factions, general instability and poverty. Collected here are photographs from the past few months of the situation in Afghanistan and the lives that continue to be affected by it. (43 photos total) An Afghan village seen from above, amidst fields of opium poppy and wheat in Farah Province, Afghanistan on March 17, 2009. U.S. Marines, who expanded into the area last November, are soon to be joined by thousands more American troops as part of an additional 17,000 U.S. forces being sent to the war. (John Moore/Getty Images) Sgt. Darin Hendricks with the U.S. Army 1-6 Field Artillery division looks into a small cave while searching for a Taliban rocket launching site in the vicinity of the remote village of Main February 19, 2009 in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Canadian soldier Pte Chris Kezar from November Company 7th platoon of the NATO-led coalition rests after heavy fighting against insurgents in the Taliban stronghold of Zhari district in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, March 20, 2009. (REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini) U.S. Army soldiers with the 1-6 Field Artillery division patrol an area where there has been reported Taliban presence February 18, 2009 in Gandalabog, Afghanistan. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) U.S. Marine Sgt. Nicholas Bender launches a Raven surveillance drone from Marine base perimeter on March 21, 2009 near the remote village of Baqwa, Afghanistan. Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment use the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to get real time intelligence on Taliban movements. The Marines are operating in Farah Province of southwest Afghanistan and are seeing a spike in Taliban attacks against American forces with the onset of the spring "fighting season." (John Moore/Getty Images) # A soldier from the 2nd Gurkha Regiment of the British army cleans his weapon on Patrol Base Woqab in Musa Qala, Helmand province March 27, 2009. (REUTERS/Omar Sobhani) # A British soldier keeps watch while on foot patrol in a poppy field in Musa Qala, Helmand province, Afghanistan on March 28, 2009. (REUTERS/Omar Sobhani) A burqa-clad Afghan woman walks in an old bazaar in Kabul March 4, 2009. (REUTERS/Ahmad Masood) A U.S. Air Force C-17 flying overhead drops parachutes of military supplies - which blew off course, landing on an opium poppy field on March 22, 2009 next to a U.S. Marine base in remote Qalanderabad in southwest Afghanistan. (John Moore/Getty Images) Opium farmer Haji Abdul Khan shows off damaged poppies to U.S. Marines and their military interpreter on March 22, 2009 near remote Qalanderabad in southwest Afghanistan. The opium poppy field was damaged when a U.S. Air Force airdrop of supplies blew off target, landing on some of Khan's crops and crushing them. The Marines assured Khan they would pay him for his damaged poppy crop in compensation for the accident. The Taliban often extorts a percentage of the profits from the farmers' harvest to fund attacks on American forces, according to the military. U.S. Marines, however, have no mandate to destroy poppy crops and, in fact, count on farmers to supply intelligence on Taliban activities A man is questioned by the U.S. Army in a remote valley while searching for Taliban militants who fired rockets at an Army base earlier in the evening February 18, 2009 in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) The body of a suspected Talibunny insurgent lies on the back of a police truck after he was killed in a battle outside Ghazni March 26, 2009. Four Taliban insurgents were killed, and seven policemen and two civilians were wounded during a battle just outside Ghazni city, some 200km (125 miles) southwest of Kabul, a spokesman for the provincial governor said. A U.S. Marine and an Afghan national policeman pause while on a joint patrol March 26, 2009 near Bakwa in southwestern Afghanistan. Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment patrol daily in the area, often with Afghan police. Local opium poppy and wheat farmers say the presence of the Marines has improved security in the region, formerly controlled by the Taliban, although Taliban insurgents continue to creep into the area at night to plant IEDs on the road. (John Moore/Getty Images) Former Taliban militants hold their heavy and light weapons during a ceremony to hand over them to the Afghan government in the city of Herat province west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, March 10, 2009. Around 40 Taliban militants from Herat province handed their weapons to the Afghan government as part of a peace-reconciliation program. (AP Photo/Fraidoon Pooyaa) U.S. Marine watches as lightning flashes on the horizon during a search operation for Taliban on March 25, 2009 near the village of Bakwa in remote southwestern Afghanistan. Marines from India Company of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment were searching for insurgents after receiving information that a group of armed men were approaching their base through a hidden ravine. No one was found however. (John Moore/Getty Images) An Afghan security officer stands guard as flames rise during a drug burning event on the outskirts of the city in Herat province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 18, 2009. Over 2,000 kilograms of narcotics, composed of heroin, opium and hashish, were burnt along with some bottles of alcoholic drinks. (AP Photo/Fraidoon Pooyaa) U.S. Marines keep watch as fellow Marines search for Taliban arms caches on March 31, 2009 in the abandoned town of Now Zad in Helmand province Afghanistan. Marines from Lima Company of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment have been fighting Taliban insurgents, whose frontline position is just over a mile away from their base. Military commanders say the civilian population fled during heaving fighting between British troops and Taliban fighters several years ago, leaving a ghost town, now a battleground between the U.S. Marines and Taliban. (John Moore/Getty Images) Canadian soldiers from the NATO-led coalition check a dry river in the Taliban stronghold of Arghandab district in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, March 12, 2009 An Afghan man waits with his sick child to be treated by French doctors of the 27th BCA (Bataillon de Chasseurs Alpins) on February 19, 2009 at the Morales-Frazier Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Nijrab, Kapisa province. Warning Graphic: An Afghan National Policeman keeps watch as the burnt body of a suicide attacker is seen amid the wreckage of a vehicle near the U.S. base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan on March 4, 2009. A blast from the explosives in the vehicle was followed seconds later by a suicide bomber on foot who, after running from the vehicle had detonated himself outside the main gate of Bagram air base. Several contractors were injured by the blasts. Click on the link for more of these amazing images and the captions. Edited April 13, 2009 by Nemo Live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorak Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Those were some truly amazing images. Pictures certainly do speak a thousand words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mystic MVC Posted April 13, 2009 MVC Share Posted April 13, 2009 There are some extremely gripping pictures in there. We truly never see stuff like this on TV anymore. It's all about the deaths, bombings, etc. not about the people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84Mark Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 There is some spectacular scenery to see in parts of Afghanistan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omar Hussain Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qdave Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 saw it a while ago on Boston.com photo story thing. amazing shots. beautifull country plagues by the stupid wars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo003 Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Click on the link for more of these amazing images and the captions. I really like the one with the female british soilder. Kinda feels like putting as a wallpaper :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPDL Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Thanks Nemo Live, those are some great photos. There is more to Afghanistan than battles and roadside bombs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Veteran Posted April 13, 2009 Veteran Share Posted April 13, 2009 Thank you for posting this Nemo Live. Those pictures truly are amazing. I find the last one, of the suicide bomber, quite shocking to be honest. I can't help but wonder if he felt any pain as his body ended up like that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mystic MVC Posted April 13, 2009 MVC Share Posted April 13, 2009 saw it a while ago on Boston.com photo story thing. amazing shots.beautifull country plagues by the stupid wars. And ever embraced by the plague of the poppy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qdave Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 And ever embraced by the plague of the poppy... those flowers are actually very beautifull...too bad that they cause so much harm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nyit101 Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Nemo Live, Thank You for sharing, some of the pictures are heartbreaking. Especially the one with little kid. There are so many kids like him who need basic medical care. :( If you guys don't mind I would like to share some of pictures from my past trips to Afghanistan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEvan Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Man I wish I would stop looking at these shots.... seeing all the awesome PJ shots taken all around the world make me depressed knowing I'm never in such a situation to take similar shots...I've always wanted to do PJ work like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C++ Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 I'm sorry but can someone enlighten me as to how exactly these photographs are "amazing"? Look there's an aerial shot of a village! And caves, and rocks, and some grass and flowers, and some soldiers, some ammunition, some bodies, some wreckage. How truly unexpected! Who'd have thunk it that Afghanistan's terrain would look like any other piece of land, or that our military forces there would look like any other army? How extraordinary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ez8 Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 I'm sorry but can someone enlighten me as to how exactly these photographs are "amazing"?Look there's an aerial shot of a village! And caves, and rocks, and some grass and flowers, and some soldiers, some ammunition, some bodies, some wreckage. How truly unexpected! Who'd have thunk it that Afghanistan's terrain would look like any other piece of land, or that our military forces there would look like any other army? How extraordinary! You're the type of person that can't see the good in anything. It's not for you then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonathanVP Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 I agree...these pictures are simply amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLaughingMan Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Of all the pictures, the one with the woman in the blue dress is amazing shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mystic MVC Posted April 19, 2009 MVC Share Posted April 19, 2009 I'm sorry but can someone enlighten me as to how exactly these photographs are "amazing"?Look there's an aerial shot of a village! And caves, and rocks, and some grass and flowers, and some soldiers, some ammunition, some bodies, some wreckage. How truly unexpected! Who'd have thunk it that Afghanistan's terrain would look like any other piece of land, or that our military forces there would look like any other army? How extraordinary! "A picture tells a story" lost all of its meaning on you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ez8 Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Of all the pictures, the one with the woman in the blue dress is amazing shot. In a way It's sort of beautiful for her to cover her beauty like that (but not in that extreme fashion w/ the honeycombs; that's just mean..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nyit101 Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Some Pictures from Afghanistan taken by me. I am visiting again next month, hopefully I will have an opportunity to take more pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84Mark Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Very nice - I'm assuming that's North Afghanistan as it looks very very different to what I saw in Helmand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axel Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 I'm sorry but can someone enlighten me as to how exactly these photographs are "amazing"?Look there's an aerial shot of a village! And caves, and rocks, and some grass and flowers, and some soldiers, some ammunition, some bodies, some wreckage. How truly unexpected! Who'd have thunk it that Afghanistan's terrain would look like any other piece of land, or that our military forces there would look like any other army? How extraordinary! Not everything in life is as "matter of fact" as you seem to believe. Take a step back and think for a second as to why everybody else thinks these pictures are amazing and why you don't. Maybe you'll be able to open your mind and explore a whole new perspective on life. Fantastic photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghatak Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 amazing thanks for sharing may god bless all the good human beings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nyit101 Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Very nice - I'm assuming that's North Afghanistan as it looks very very different to what I saw in Helmand! Yes, that is northern, near Panjshir Valley and Hindu Kush mountains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Hammond Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Nice to see some British representation in there as well, they are great shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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