Afghanistan 2009: A Year in Photos

Images from the most-talked about place of 2009.

DECEMBER 31, 2009

An Afghan man leads a donkey carrying his wife at the Shahr-e-Gholghola on a hilltop overlooking Bamiyan province on Nov. 9, 2009. Bamiyan, located some 200 kilometres northwest of Kabul, stands in a deep green and lush valley stretching through central Afghanistan, on the former Silk Road that once linked China to Central Asia and beyond. 

SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images 

All photographs and captions via Getty Images

 
 

DANIEL

11:29 AM ET

January 1, 2010

These photos are amazing.

These photos are amazing. Really great work. I think they show the reader the image of Afghanistan without going too overboard or trying to send a political message. The photographer simply recorded what he saw and nothing more. I actually have a Marine in the family who will be headed to Afghanistan in the coming weeks. He got a Canon G11 digital camera for Christmas and I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures he takes.

 

FERNANDOWALLS

2:54 PM ET

January 16, 2010

I Agree - it's amazing

Thanks for the great pictures.
We must also reflect and draw the correct conclusions.

 

JERRCHAN

5:58 PM ET

January 3, 2010

Photo 2

I didn't know that dog fighting is actually legal in Afghanistan, now I know where mister Michael Vick takes his vacations at. - Jerry

 

OTIMIZAçãO DE SITES

1:28 PM ET

January 4, 2010

These images are

These images are fantastic!

These are breathtaking images. Whoever put this together knows how to grab the human imagination. I can't get enough of stuff like this! I hope you do more!

Thanks,
otimização de sites - desentupidora - iluminação - grafica hoje - controle de acesso - acompanhantes

 
 
 
 

JAKEXD

12:41 PM ET

January 19, 2010

Great photos. I wish the

Great photos. I wish the troops the best and hope they will be returning soon.
fix rrod

 

DEBTHELPSOURCE

1:29 PM ET

January 19, 2010

Afghanistan

This is part of the new style and most, if not all, without knowledge is based on opinion, rather than fact. A good necessary uses this to fulfill long term goals. Nick

 

TORA

8:47 AM ET

January 27, 2010

I can not imagine

it's a city... or village or.. what
I can not imagine how they can survive like that

 

ACOMPANHANTES

5:45 AM ET

January 30, 2010

aWESOME

People that is beauty... That shows how everything changes depending on the watching eye.
Could u give details about the used camera please?

acompanhantes curso seo otimização de sites

 

AMAIN325

6:16 PM ET

February 1, 2010

These photos provide stark

These photos provide stark illustration of a few key points. First, study these men's faces. These are some tough MF's. They will never bend to our will, even though our (American) will is not to subjugate them like former invaders including the Soviets and Taliban, but rather to elevate them to a civilized way of life that would involve rejection of inhuman practices such as dogfighting, terrorism, and Islamic fundamentalism. Leading to point #2: Look at the way they squat about in the dirt. These are a bunch of primitive savages. Call me a bigot, I don't give a s**t, that's what they are. We drive out the Taliban (for whom I have nothing but loathing) and they revert to two things the Taliban banned: dogfighting and that ridiculous dragging around of goat carcasses. Probably the only two Taliban policies I would applaud. Back to the point, these primitive savages have no interest in cooperating with us in opposing terrorism, nor do they have any interest in elevating their society to some level of civility. Their only interest is in preserving their age-old traditions of local power mongering, subjugation of females, and barbaric pastimes, fueled by their opium crops and, sadly, the blood cult of Islam. And without interference from any national government. Nor could these savages care less about our welfare or denying terrorists their country as a training ground for attacks upon us. How many Afghan "soldiers" we have supposedly trained have already turned the guns we provided them against our own personnel? American lives and dollars are being spent in vain. The only way to deny this god-forsaken place to the terrorists would be to lay waste to it until it was uninhabitable. Not a realistic solution, I admit. I wish I knew what is.

 

BOLTON26

5:21 AM ET

February 2, 2010

We don't see enough of these

just seen these photo's on my new Google Nexus they are brillant its a country many in the west know so little about