A city of Contrast. A center of entertainment. A center of music. A center of cool trendy things and wealth? The city with the highest homeless population in the United States of America.
Members of Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul conduct a key leader engagement with village elders in Arghandab, Afghanistan, July 30, 2011. PRT Zabul's mission is to conduct civil-military operations in Zabul Province to extend the reach and legitimacy of the Government of Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Grovert Fuentes-Contreras)
This photo can be looked at in very different ways. If one is in support of America's actions or against our actions.
I strongly support our troops. That does not mean I support our government. These are two very different things.
For me, this photo took me back to my days in the military when young children dressed in local attire, while I was dressed to kill, would look up at you with eyes that questioned why this was happening to them.
I had no answer then and I have no answer now.
The shot above was taken by a cool fellow and friend, Grovert Fuentes-Contreras. He has taken a lot of terrific shots and I keep an eye out for his work. Side note .... just because you carry a camera and are in the Air Force it does not keep you out of harm's way. All it means is that you have one more piece of gear to carry and one more job to do.
The slide show below - from the jungle to the desert over five decades
The video at the bottom of this piece shows many of the points which are of concern to Americans. In the end, the video turns out to be a political statement. I overlooked the political aspect of the video and just let some other aspects of the video stand on their own.