Afghanistan | PLACE

HOWZ-E-MADAD, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 16: U.S. Army Spc. Justin Bell moves past a translator taking cover while under fire on March 16, 2010 at Howz-e-Madad in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. The American soldiers from Attack Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment had set up an observation post when insurgents attacked them from several sides. The Taliban is strong throughout Kandahar province and U.S. and Canadian forces have announced a major upcoming offensive against them around Kandahar city.

An Afghan National Army military officer shows his skills during a graduation ceremony at National Military Academy of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, March 16, 2009.

An Afghan woman with her daughter walks past a huge poster of Afghanistan's first President, Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan and a small poster of current President Hamid Karzai in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, March 16, 2010.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, right, meets with newly appointed special Representative of the United Nations for Afghanistan Staffan De Mistura of Sweden in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, March 16, 2010.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan child receives a polio vaccine on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: Afghan women meet on the second day of a polio vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

A couple of US Marines share a break in a smoking tent at a military camp set up in the middle of the desert in Helmand province on March 15, 2010. NATO and the United States have around 113,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting the insurgency, with another 40,000 being deployed through to August.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child on the second day of a vaccination campaign on March 15, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Public Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are administering the three-day program. Afghanistan is one of a few countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year, most often in areas where insurgent threats have made it hard for the vaccine to reach children.

HOWZ-E-MADAD, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An American soldier walks through a field of opium poppy on March 15, 2010 at Howz-e-Madad in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. The Taliban funds much of its military operations from protection of the illicit crop, which is refined into heroin. The Taliban is strong throughout Kandahar province and U.S. and Canadian forces have announced a major upcoming offensive against them around Kandahar city.

HOWZ-E-MADAD, AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 15: An American soldier pauses next to destroyed buildings while on patrol on March 15, 2010 at Howz-e-Madad in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. The joint patrol of American soldiers from Attack Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment and Afghan Army troops were on a recon mission and were later fired on by Taliban insurgents during the patrol. The Taliban is strong throughout Kandahar province and U.S. and Canadian forces have announced a major upcoming offensive against them around Kandahar city.