Afghanistan

Andrew and I spent the last few days in the Sabari District in Khowst Province. The paratroopers from the 82nd are living out there, which is part of a new strategy to keep constant pressure on the Taliban by keeping a presence in the districts surrounding Khost city.

The paratroopers in Afghanistan travel in the same armored Humvees as the soldiers in Iraq.

Andrew and I spent the afternoon in Khost today interviewing a local journalist and the governor of the province. It was funny because driving into town people would stop and do a double take when they saw us. It is rare, I guess, to see Western faces not in uniform on the streets of Khost.

Okay... I know all of you have been waiting for us to finally show up in Afghanistan.

It took us a week, but we are finally here. We arrived late yesterday on a C-130 flight from Bagram to Salerno, the base just outside of Khost City on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

For those in the know, waiting for a flight in Kuwait takes monk like patience and a little luck. We had neither...

To continue reading Kevin Maurer and Andrew Craft's blog, click here.

Jon Sawyer, Pulitzer Center

Creating an independent, noncorrupt police force in a place like Afghanistan was never going to be easy, not with feuding warlords and deep ethnic divisions and the temptation of easy money from the world's biggest source of heroin.

The elders and businessmen sitting cross-legged on mats under a grove of mulberry trees have a focused agenda.

The satellite connection was a little shaky. A wind storm was kicking up the desert dust outside.

As he patrols the western outskirts of Afghanistan's capital, Sgt. Eric Proulx wears a flak jacket and helmet in the front seat of an open, jeeplike vehicle.

On a hot and dusty plain just south of Kabul, as trucks hauling howitzers lumber into sight, Sgt. Greg Pearce ticks off some of the reasons why this is the most unusual teaching experience he's ever had.

Commander Mohammed Malangyar says that after 25 years of near-continuous fighting, he is ready for civilian life.