Afghanistan

Many compelling photos over at Boston.com's Big Picture...Click over to see, they are bigger and better in the other format...

3

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) #

25

Family and friends of Trooper Jack Bouthillier, of the Royal Canadian
Dragoons, watch his remains being carried to a waiting hearse during
a repatriation ceremony at the Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Ontario,
Canada on Monday, March 23, 2009 for four soldiers killed March 20, 2009
in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Peter Redman) #

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Afghan horsemen play Afghanistan's national sport Buzkashi in
the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, March 20, 2009.
Buzkashi is the national sport of Afghanistan, which literally translated
means "goat grabbing." In Buzkashi, a headless carcass is placed in
the center of a circle and surrounded by the players of two opposing
teams. The object of the game is to get control of the carcass and
bring it to the scoring area. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) #

34

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. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images) #

37

A set of security lights illuminate the landscape at Bagram Air Base
March 2, 2009 in Bagram, Afghanistan. Following U.S. President
Barack Obama's executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay
detention camp, Bagram Air Base is slated for a $60 million
expansion, nearly doubling the size of the prison at Bagram.
Currently the base north of the Afghan capital Kabul holds
over 600 prisoners classified as enemy combatants.
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #

Michael Yon has a well spoken piece in the Washington Times. Click over and read it all:

"Most Americans know that Mr. Obama did not support the invasion of Iraq. But what should also be acknowledged, as long as some are dwelling on the past, is that Mr. Obama did not support the surge. Had we followed his advice, we would have lost the Iraq war. Other members in his current crew wanted to partition Iraq, an idea met with incredulity by the Iraqis.

This is a major point. Not only was Mr. Obama and crew appallingly ill-informed about the state of progress and possibilities in Iraq, but as late as July 2008 he was still opposing the troop surge, still trumpeting his wisdom in opposing the war, and in fact seemed to want Iraq to fail. Today he is careful in characterizing any success in Iraq, lest it be interpreted correctly that he was wrong about the facts, or worse still, understood the facts but misrepresented them. This administration carries severe credibility burdens concerning issues of foreign policy and national security."