Most of the photos are from the last few days. Some are earlier this year. I don't much to say, but desire to let the pictures speak. I have framed the photograph and captions with commentary by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (yesterday) and Chris Hedges (past summer).
"With respect to Afghanistan, we should not be escalating, and it's an unfortunate thing that President Obama has made the decision to escalate. You can't be in and out at the same time. You may talk about an exit strategy, but the truth of the matter is that you first have to escalate and then you find out how long you're going to be there. And I think it is regrettable. We don't have the money to do this. We are weakening our ability to defend this country by doing it. And I think it's going to undermine the United States' role in the region and create even further instability."
-- Dennis Kucinich, The Ed Show, 1 Dec. 2009
Medea Benjamin, executive director of the peace group CodePink holds up a sign on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009, as Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen arrives to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates takes his seat as protesters hold up signs at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Afghanistan on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 2, 2009. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES POLITICS MILITARY)
Military families and veterans gather at a home to listen to President Barack Obama's speech on a troop increase in Afghanistan, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2009 - U.S. marines fire during a Taliban ambush as they carry out an operation to clear an area in Helmand province, October 9, 2009. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (AFGHANISTAN POLITICS MILITARY IMAGES OF THE DAY CONFLICT)
Demonstrators stand in front of Thayer Gate at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point N.Y. Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, before President Barack Obama outlined plans to deploy more troops to Afghanistan in a speech at the academy. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2009 - A torn campaign poster for Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah is seen on a wall in Herat November 2, 2009. Abdullah quit an election run-off on Sunday after accusing the government of not meeting his demand for a fair vote, leaving doubts over the legitimacy of the next government. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (AFGHANISTAN POLITICS ELECTIONS IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Demonstrator Minerva Maldonado, 23, of Haverstraw, N.Y., holds a picture of her brother, Francisco Maldonado, 24, who is currently serving in Afghanistan, as she walks outside the nearby U.S. Military Academy at West Point N.Y. Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, as President Barack Obama outlined plans to deploy more troops to Afghanistan in a speech at the academy. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Demonstrator and Iraq veteran Matthis Chiroux is arrested for disorderly conduct at Thayer gate at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point N.Y. on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, as President Barack Obama outlined plans to deploy more troops to Afghanistan in a speech at the academy. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
An unidentified Fort Lewis soldier touches the boot of a memorial display for Spc. Joseph Michael Lewis in the North Fort Chapel at Fort Lewis, Wash., Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. Lewis, 26, of Terrell, Texas, died Nov. 17 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was struck with an improvised explosive device. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Lui Kit Wong)
Deanna Gorzynski, of New Milford, N.J., right, and other protesters in Highland Falls, N.Y. gather nearby the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, before President Barack Obama outlined plans to deploy more troops to Afghanistan in a speech at the academy. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Rahmatullah, 19, a victim of Friday's NATO air strike, tries to sit up on his bed in a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009. NATO investigators sought to determine Saturday if any of the scores of people killed in a U.S. airstrike on two tanker trucks hijacked by the Taliban were civilians trying to siphon fuel. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A German KZO drone, or unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicle, takes off from the German base outside Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jets blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban outside Kunduz, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, Afghan officials said. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
In this photo taken Friday, Aug. 14, Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard is tended to by fellow U.S. Marines after being hit by a rocket propelled grenade during a firefight against the Taliban in the village of Dahaneh in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. Bernard was transported by helicopter to Camp Leatherneck where he later died of his wounds.
Mourners attend the funeral of Spc. Joseph Lewis on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, in Terrell, Texas. Lewis was killed Nov. 17, 2009 in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)
Burqa-clad Afghan women beg for money in Kabul. In this deeply impovrished country estimates are that up to 80 percent of economic activity is undertaken by informal players who do not have adequate incentives or mechanisms to formalize their business activities. (AFP/File/Shah Marai)
Chaplain Capt. James Key speaks to family members during the funeral for Spc. Christopher J. Coffland at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. Coffland, 43, of Baltimore, died Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, after enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 323rd Military Intelligence Battalion, Fort Meade, Md. (AP Photo/The Baltimore Sun, Karl Merton Ferron)
An honor guard folds a U.S. flag over the casket of Spc. Christopher J. Coffland during his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. Coffland, 43, of Baltimore, died Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, after enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 323rd Military Intelligence Battalion, Fort Meade, Md. (AP Photo/The Baltimore Sun, Karl Merton Ferron)
A U.S. Army cadet reads a book entitled "On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society" as he awaits a speech by U.S. President Barack Obama on the U.S. policy and the fighting in Afghanistan at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York December 1, 2009. Obama is announcing a plan to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan over six months in a bid to beat back the Taliban and bring a quicker end to a costly and unpopular eight-year war. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES POLITICS CONFLICT)
A young mourner looks at the casket of Spc. Joseph Lewis on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, during Lewis' Funeral in Terrell, Texas. Lewis died on Nov. 17 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes
Teresa Lewis, the wife of Spc. Joseph Lewis, receives an American flag from a soldier at her husbands funeral on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, in Terrell, Texas. Lewis died on Nov. 17 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)
Sean Bate (R), the best man at the wedding of British soldier Darren Chant, helps carry Chant's coffin into the Guard's Chapel for his funeral in London December 1, 2009. Warrant Officer Chant, Regimental Sergeant Major, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was killed on duty in Afghanistan on November 3. REUTERS/Toby Melville (BRITAIN CONFLICT OBITUARY)
Connor Chant reacts as the coffin of his father, British soldier Darren Chant, is carried out of the Guard's Chapel following his funeral in London December 1, 2009. Warrant Officer Chant, Regimental Sergeant Major, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was killed on duty in Afghanistan on November 3. REUTERS/Toby Melville (BRITAIN CONFLICT OBITUARY)
Victoria Chant weeps as the coffin of her father, British soldier Darren Chant, is carried out of the Guard's Chapel following his funeral in London December 1, 2009. Warrant Officer Chant, Regimental Sergeant Major, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was killed on duty in Afghanistan on November 3. REUTERS/Toby Melville (BRITAIN CONFLICT OBITUARY)
There Is No Reason For Us To Be In Afghanistan - Everyone Knows It & It Spells Defeat
By Chris Hedges, Truthdig. Posted July 21, 2009.