Afghanistan War

KABUL, Afghanistan - When he saw the flowing blood, Mohammed Anwar at first thought his son was dead. Five-year-old Muqadas had been shot in the head in June during a firefight between U.S. forces and Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan. But Anwar's quick response not only saved his son's life, it also secured modern medical treatment that has allowed Muqadas to resume a normal life. Thousands of Afghan civilians are killed or maimed each year in warfare, and most are doomed to rudimentary medical care in this impoverished country.

After several weeks of continuous patrolling inside Afghanistan, Amin Wardak was leading his 18-strong band of moujahedeen guerrillas through Logar province toward Pakistan. As the two trucks entered a narrow valley, they suddenly came under heavy fire from silenced AK-47 automatic rifles. The night attack had been skillfully organized and, unable to see or hear their attackers, the guerrillas had no chance. All were killed.

Ten years into the war on terror, the U.S. has largely succeeded in its attempts to destabilize Al Qaeda and eliminate its leaders. But the cost has been enormous, and our decisions about how to finance it have profoundly damaged the U.S. economy. Many of these costs were unnecessary. We chose to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan with a small, all-volunteer force, and we supplemented the military presence with a heavy reliance on civilian contractors. These decisions not only placed enormous strain on the troops but dramatically pushed up costs.

Iran capped two weeks of saber-rattling against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia with a display of its military prowess Friday, a three-hour parade of troops and weapons that included the public debut of a new Iranian missile that can strike at enemies 800 miles away. But chants of "Death to the Taliban!"

The April Ladies' Home Journal has the usual celebrity cover, the mandatory monthly teasers for "the 15 most requested recipes," "what makes couples stay in love," "fashions that make you look younger and thinner" and "hair styles of the rich and famous." It also contains a first-person story of war in a faraway country: 2 million deaths, 5 million refugees, unthinkable atrocities against children and the civilian population of Afghanistan in general.

The camera was focused on a convoy of Soviet tanks and trucks snaking through a rocky gorge along the Kabul River north of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. As the vehicles reached a point where the gorge narrowed, Afghan rebels opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades. Several vehicles were hit, sending spirals of black smoke into the air. The camera remained steady as the tanks returned the fire, peppering rebel positions on the rocky slopes.

CAMP PENDLETON -- With tearful and flag-waving family members waiting to embrace them, Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit returned home Sunday after a seven-month overseas deployment that included service in Afghanistan. "God has answered my prayers and brought my boy home safe," said Linda Green of Muncie, Ind., sobbing as she hugged her son, Cpl. Charles Green Jr., who was still toting an M-16 rifle.

The old warhorse is finding a place in battles of the new century. In Afghanistan, mounted rebels thunder off into the dust, rocket-propelled grenades at the ready, taking an ancient method of war to a better-armed Taliban. Are they insane? Not according to Edwin Price Ramsey, said by cavalry historians to be the last commander of a horseback charge in U.S. military history.

The two-year political alliance between President Boris N. Yeltsin and Vice President Alexander V. Rutskoi has disintegrated. Follow ing the April referendum, Yelstin stripped Rutskoi of all his remaining jobs and pared his administrative staff to six, from 33. Ironically, the No. 2 man in government is today the most influential man in the opposition and may be on the threshold of a promising--and welcome--political career.