In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan (2 page)

Decades of fighting destroyed much of Kabul, leaving thousands of burnt-out buildings scarred by bullets and artillery shells.
United Kingdom Ministry of Defence

Aerial view of Paktia Province from a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter. Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain has long made it difficult for invading armies to conquer.
Obaid Younossi

Afghan national security forces prepare for operations against insurgents in Helmand Province in January 2008. While Afghan National Police suffered from incompetence and corruption, the Afghan National Army became increasingly competent at conducting counterinsurgent operations.
U.S. Department of Defense, Specialist David Gunn

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan’s minister of foreign affairs, shown here speaking at a NATO event in August 2003, repeatedly warned Washington policymakers that the security situation was getting more dangerous.
NATO

Lieutenant General David Barno (foreground), Major General Lloyd Austin (left), Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (center), and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad (right) meet in Kabul on December 4,2003, to talk about stabilization efforts.
U.S. Department of Defense, Technical Sergeant Andy Dunaway

Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, briefs journalists at the Pentagon on October 15, 2004. Khalilzad was instrumental in developing a strategy on “Accelerating Success” in Afghanistan.
U.S. Department of Defense, R. D. Ward

Lieutenant General David Barno, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, at a press conference at the Pentagon on October 19, 2004. One of his most successful efforts was helping provide a secure environment for the presidential elections that year in Afghanistan.
U.S. Department of Defense, R. D. Ward

Two Afghan women, wearing bright blue
burqas
, show their ink-stained fingers after voting for parliamentary elections on September 18, 2005.
U.S. Department of Defense, Staff Sergeant Jacob Caldwell

Children peer through the damaged wall of their schoolhouse in Kabul. After the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban regime, increasing numbers of boys and girls went to school in Afghanistan.
U.S. Department of Defense, Corporal Matthew Roberson

Afghan laborers build the perimeter wall at a NATO Forward Operating Base in Badghis Province. NATO completed its movement to western Afghanistan in September 2005.
U.S. Department of Defense, Technical Sergeant Laura K. Smith