View collection of photos by Sarah Chayes depicting her life in Kandahar, Afghanistan
Back to Afghanistan. With the former king poised to return, with foreign soldiers starting a new operation in the east, and as villages pick representatives for a political convention, a Loya Jirga, this week marks the beginning of the end for the U.S.-backed interim government.
Refugees finally heading home from Pakistan and Iran are each getting 20 dollars, and a package of relief supplies. But what are they returning to? Warlords still rule the cities much as they did in the "bad old days." The infrastructure, from roads to sewers to the nation's political psyche, remains in ruins. Two months from now, many feel, is too soon to expect success in choosing a new, more permanent, more robust government.
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