Politics & Government
U.S. soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment take aim at unseen militants during an operation to seize Babur, a Taliban-controlled village in Kandahar province's Arghandab valley. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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Lt. Col. David Flynn, left, commander of the 101st Airborne Division's "Top Gun" field artillery battalion stationed in southern Afghanistan, listens to a U.S. Army interpreter on Sunday, August 8, 2010 after his forces easily seized Babur, a small village in the Arghandab valley. Flynn's forces have been methodically challenging the Taliban in their longstanding strongholds in Kandahar province. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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Lt. Col. David Flynn, commander of the 101st Airborne Division's "Top Gun" field artillery battalion stationed in southern Afghanistan, meets on Sunday, August 8, 2010 with residents of Babur, a small village in the Arghandab valley. Flynn's forces have been methodically challenging the Taliban in their longstanding strongholds in Kandahar province. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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An Afghan soldier listens to his top commanders during a briefing at Combat Outpost Terra Nova. The Arghandab valley has been the focus of concentrated military operations against Taliban fighters trying to hold onto the hotly contested area. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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Pfc. Abraham Figueroa, 19, of Chicago, fords a stream on patrol. His company, part of the 82nd Airborne Division, endured high casualties during its year-long tour in Afghanistan. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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Figueroa keeps watch while on patrol. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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Figueroa gets a hand as he climbs out of a deep stream. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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Afghan boys look around the entrance of their home in the Arghandab valley as U.S. soldiers question their relatives. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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An Afghan girl looks out from her home in the Arghandab valley as U.S. soldiers question her relatives. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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A member of the Afghan security forces takes a break. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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Pfc. Jorge Rostran Obando, 22, of New York City, NY, looks out over a compound in the Arghandab valley while an Afghan soldier checks out a room during a raid. Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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NATO and Afghan officers on a battlefield tour walk past graffiti on the wall of a Afghan school that has been transformed into a command post at Combat Outpost Terra Nova. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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An Afghan soldier crosses a bridge during a patrol with U.S. forces in the Arghandab valley on Tuesday, August 3, 2010. U.S. and Afghan forces have launched a new operation to try and drive Taliban fighters out of the valley outside Kandahar city. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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Private First Class Trung Nguyen, with the 82nd Airborne's 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment, Second Battalion, Charlie Company, keeps watch during a joint patrol with Afghan soldiers in the Arghandab valley on Tuesday, August 3, 2010. U.S. and Afghan forces have launched a new operation to try and drive Taliban fighters out of the area outside Kandahar city. (Dion Nissenbaum/MCT)
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