Peacekeeping

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.

Pulitzer Center Staff

Ryan Anson examines the most recent political and military developments in the southern Philippines in two articles published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, September 9, 2007.

In "Trying to keep it all in the family dynasty," Ryan reports on a congressman-elect and his two wives -- one the mayor of Isabela City and the other Basilan's new governor -- and the concerns that come with one family's rise in political power.

Isabela City is not Baghdad. Roadside bombs don't rip through the floors of humvees, nor do masked insurgents take pot shots at Kevlar-vested soldiers from bullet-riddled buildings.

But like Baghdad, there are American servicemen here. They've been helping Filipino soldiers fight al Qaeda-linked terrorists who have made the southern Philippine region of Mindanao a hotbed of extremist activity during the past decade.

And they're doing it without firing a shot - at least not outside their camp.

After weeks of vote counting, sporadic bombings and allegations of election fraud, the insurgency-racked island of Basilan in the southern Philippines finally has a new congressman. It also has a new governor and mayor of the provincial capital where al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorists once dined in local restaurants by day, and kidnapped priests and schoolteachers at night.

In a twist on the long Filipino tradition of dynastic rule, Basilan's new governor and the mayor of Isabela City are both married to congressman-elect Wahab Akbar.

Photographs from the "lost boys" and their first trip home in nearly 20 years.

Photographs by David Morse and Gabriel Bol, captions provided by Jen Marlowe.

Two of Ryan Anson's photos were featured in Newsweek's August 20, 2007 edition. The article titled "How to Beat Terror" looks at the new tactics adopted by Asian states in the war on terror. Authors Joe Cochrane, Criselda Yabes and Marites D. Vitug look at these tactics and the capture of Jemaah Islamiah's leader. Ryan Anson illustrates this article with two of his photos taken in the region. Refer to Newsweek's August 20, 2007 edition for the full story.

In May 2007 filmmaker Jen Marlowe and journalist David Morse accompanied several southern Sudanese 'lost boys' back to their homes. The 'lost boys' were children who were forced to flee attacks on their villages in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Jen Marlowe, the award winning director of Darfur Diaries, speaks with Jerry Fowler about the current political landscape of southern Sudan and the connections to the crisis in Darfur.

David Morse and Gabriel Bol Deng speak on Where We Live on WNPR. August 8, 2007. Is the situation today in Darfur repeating a conflict that ripped apart the South of Sudan almost 20 years ago? David and Gabriel speak about their trip with Jen Marlowe to South Sudan and the story of the "Lost Boys" from the summer of 2007.

Listen to the commentary on the conflict in Darfur here.

David Morse, for the Pulitzer Center

This was, for all of us, a big journey. Most blogs written from the saddle like this one just kind of stop. Though I can't provide closure for myself entirely, and expect that may be true for the others - the experience is still running through us - I feel some need to say goodbye or at least "See you later" to those who have followed our journey from afar.

By Jen Marlowe, for the Pulitzer Center