Showing posts tagged Afghanistan
Women in combat: De facto warriors in Afghanistan and Iraq, women are now closer than ever to the “profession of combat arms.” The US military is opening jobs to them closer to the battlefield, and they are pushing to abolish job limits through legal battles. READ: Women in combat: US military on verge of making it official PHOTO: Col. Jeannie Leavitt, Commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, N.C. is the first female jet fighter pilot in US history and first woman to command a fighter wing squadron. Military women largely have been unable to serve in such high commands because, barred from combat, they have been unable to get the experience they need to advance. (James Robinson/Special to the Christian Science Monitor) View high resolution

Women in combat: De facto warriors in Afghanistan and Iraq, women are now closer than ever to the “profession of combat arms.” The US military is opening jobs to them closer to the battlefield, and they are pushing to abolish job limits through legal battles.

READ: Women in combat: US military on verge of making it official

PHOTO: Col. Jeannie Leavitt, Commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, N.C. is the first female jet fighter pilot in US history and first woman to command a fighter wing squadron. Military women largely have been unable to serve in such high commands because, barred from combat, they have been unable to get the experience they need to advance. (James Robinson/Special to the Christian Science Monitor)

Monitor photographer Melanie Stetson Freeman captured photos of Afghanistan today, for the album Inside Afghanistan: Remnants of America’s longest war, part of this week’s cover story, US legacy in Afghanistan: What 11 years of war has accomplished.

Photo 1: Muhammad Nasser repairs shoes in his tiny shop. He works every day to support his mother, his wife, and three children. He makes 150 to 200 afghani a day – about $3 to $4.

Photo 2: A shoe store in an upscale mall sells goods from overseas, like Clarks shoes.


Afghan Diary: The lives of four Afghans provide a lens on how America’s longest conflict has changed a nation – and the divisions and dangers that persist. View high resolution

Afghan Diary: The lives of four Afghans provide a lens on how America’s longest conflict has changed a nation – and the divisions and dangers that persist.

PHOTO: New recruits in the Afghan National Army learn how to shoot M-16 rifles. (Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff) After years of standing in the background, Beijing is starting to show signs of closer engagement with its strife-torn neighbor in a bid to ward off disaster, say Chinese and foreign analysts. When Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao here on Friday, they will raise their countries’ bilateral relations to a “new strategic level,” an Afghan official told reporters in Kabul this week. READ: Why China is likely to get more involved in Afghanistan View high resolution

PHOTO: New recruits in the Afghan National Army learn how to shoot M-16 rifles. (Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff)

After years of standing in the background, Beijing is starting to show signs of closer engagement with its strife-torn neighbor in a bid to ward off disaster, say Chinese and foreign analysts.

When Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao here on Friday, they will raise their countries’ bilateral relations to a “new strategic level,” an Afghan official told reporters in Kabul this week.

READ: Why China is likely to get more involved in Afghanistan

Brigade that posed with dead Afghan bombers showed signs of trouble

Pentagon correspondent Anna Mulrine points out that even before the brigade left for Afghanistan in 2009, its commander was uneasy about the uncertain task ahead; mentoring Afghan security forces.

“
The sad part is that the international community’s actions do not reflect what they say. It talks about women’s rights, but then they don’t include them [in peace talks]. Women’s involvement should be one of the conditions. The problem here is that it’s not only the Afghans, it’s the international community that also sees that women are not capable or useful in the negotiations.
Sima Samar, chairperson for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. READ: Afghanistan women: ‘Give us a seat at the peace table’
The latest addition to the newsroom, thanks to Tom A. Peter, Afghanistan correspondent.

The latest addition to the newsroom, thanks to Tom A. Peter, Afghanistan correspondent.

Good Reads: America's longest war, in Afghanistan, and Liberia's Nobel Laureate

On the 10th anniversary of the Afghanistan war, today’s papers detail the lessons still to be learned. And in good news, Liberia’s first female president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, wins a Nobel Peace Prize.

Good Reads: Protests in Syria, Soviets in Kabul, US-Pakistan breakup

Good morning Tumblr, here is your daily dose of Good Reads, thanks to The Guardian, Al Jazeera and The Washington Post.

UPDATE: Battle for Afghanistan’s Gambir Jungle: Parts Three, Four and Five

We continue today with the final parts of our five-part series from reporter Anna Mulrine, who was embedded with US Army troops in Afghanistan in the Pech River Valley.

Part Three: 1st Platoon’s ‘last stand’

Part Four: A race against daybreak

Part Five: What was it all for?

Read the whole series here.

PHOTO: Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 32nd infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division take cover near Shigal village in Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan on Dec. 7, 2009. (Newscom/File)