Unpublished Photos From the War in Afghanistan Released

Women, men and children are the most important feature in this landscape here, and I hope the photos do them justice. Most are shot from a moving HUMVEE, but that has its advantages of course.

Photos from the war in Afghanistan by Tim King Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - I left Afghanistan over a year ago, but new video segments and photos continue to emerge from the pile of accumulated media from my two months there last winter.

Sign featuring Massoud, the national hero of Afghanistan

The still images seem to tell stories that video and sound can be challenged to reach. I guess you could fall back on the old knowledge that sometimes, silence speaks volumes.

The photos are all posted on my MySpace page under "New Afghan War photos 3-17-08" and there are 89 photos in this particular set of images. They feature many different moments from my time there and are probably the best grouping when it comes to people shots.

Below this story is a moving slideshow, courtesy of MySpace, that contains all of the images. If you hover one of them with your mouse, a caption will appear that briefly explains the nature of the image you are looking at.

Some of the photos are of a Michigan Air National Guard C-130 Hercules aircraft that I climbed aboard for a flight from Kabul to an airport in Northern Afghanistan.

Others are from the HUMVEE convoy that we took from the place the C-130 landed, to the base at Mazar-e-Shariff, where the first American was killed in the early days of the war there.

A large number of the photos are simply of people. Women, men and children are the most important feature in this landscape, and I hope the photos do them justice. Most are shot from a moving HUMVEE, but that has its advantages of course.

Ever wonder about Afghan taxi cabs? How about the motorcycles everybody seems to ride there? You will see all of the above and more. Afghanistan is a beautiful country in spite of all it has been through and its people are fiercely proud and independent. They are a tribal culture and the current government is working hard at integration efforts. If the day comes that girls are allowed a full and proper education, then this distant land could flourish.

On a personal level, the images bring back many memories, and life in a war zone is certainly a memory builder. For those of you who don't know, I am heading for Iraq at the first of the coming month. (see: Iraq Coverage of Oregon Soldiers Draws Closer)

In these images you will see all kinds of things you might not expect; Bin Laden lookalikes, and one guy trying hard to avoid being identified by the passing soldiers I accompanied. He appears to hide his face, almost desperately. It is the kind of thing you catch long after the fact, but it is still very interesting.