Views from Over Paktika

 One of the interesting differences in Paktika is that when you're flying over it, you see trees.  You don't see trees elsewhere, not counting the northeast, which I've only been to twice.  You see scrub and brush, little dots on a dusty brown landscape.  You see narrow strips of green along a river bed.  But you don't see trees.
Here you do. Especially in the last two photos, you can see that there is actual tree growth here.  Partly it's the climate; partly it's that the Soviets didn't have to destroy all the treeline here in an effort to smoke out the jihadists here in the 80s.

                                                               There are insurgents today, though; this

 is the Afghan Waziristan, right on the Pakistani border, and insurgents cross back and forth with impunity.  And that's why the gunner in the first two photos spent the entire half-hour flight with his gaze glued to the ground, scanning for any sign of someone preparing to fire in our direction.