In a region where isolation is the rule, meetings of any sort take on a special gravity. Such is the case with Shura councils, meetings of representatives from various villages that occur far less frequently than truly needed.

One of the greatest challenges facing Afghanistan is the lack of presence the elected government has in areas remote as the eastern mountainous regions bordering Pakistan. Major cities such as Kabul and Kandahar have the natural infrastructure to facilitate a significant government …

In the moments before a howitzer fires, time seems to slow even as activity speeds to a frenzy, the mammoth gun playing host to a group of soldiers with one goal in mind: fire the round quickly, accurately, and without incident. A soldier shouts, coordinates and direction spilling from his mouth, numbers and letters arranged so oddly is seems as though he speaks another language. There is a curious cadence to his speech, a rhythm that the rest of the …

I sit in the dining hall of ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) headquarters and let the cacophany that fills the room wash over me, doing my best to pick out individual voices from the melange of tongues hanging in the air. I sort through them, astounded by how many I am able to pick out: French, Italian, English, German, Romanian, and a host of others identifiable only by the uniform of the speaker. It is, quite frankly, a bit intimidating; …

After months spent in Iraq, and what seemed like a small eternity in the dusty purgatory known as Kuwait, we have finally reached Afghanistan, and I am, simply put, in awe.

I have always heard that the first thing you see when you step off the plane into Bagram air base are the mountains, the Hindu-Kush mountain range forming a partial ring around the base, dominating the horizon. When people talk about the mountains they always spout superlatives, reaching for …

It is a scene familiar to any American: the sight of children walking home from school, an adolescent flood spilling out onto the streets, making their way home alone, or more often, in groups. But this is not America, this is Baghdad, and there are myriad differences to the scene that are sharp reminders of that fact.

Most noticeably, the students are all girls, students at a female school in Abu Ghraib, a city west of Baghdad. This would not …

We joined the circle of soldiers, doing our best to remain unnoticed as we slipped between the gravel-colored men, trying our best to find a spot we could hear the platoon sergeant from. We settled for spots near the front of the crowd, listening carefully, the steady rumble of nearby engines filling the air with a dull bass pulse. We were in luck: the mission briefing had just begun, and I settled myself, laying my bags on the dusty earth, …

I woke up thoroughly disoriented, the basement was still pitch-black, and it took me a handful of seconds to get a bearing on where I was, which is a disconcerting experience when you realize you have woken up somewhere in Baghdad.  There is nothing quite like gaining consciousness in the bowels of a base in Baghdad to throw the day into rather unique  perspective.

My father’s bed was empty, he was already out and about, and I got dressed, intent …