It still amazes me how the snow has changed the vast patches of beige to glorious visions of white. The terrain of Afghanistan is part of what has made it a rugged country difficult to tame. The ...

KABUL, Afghanistan — Like many people, my image of Afghanistan has been shaped by what I read and see in the media. Women in blue burqas, fields of opium-producing poppies, fierce-looking, turbaned ...

''It's absolutely true that security is worse in places where people are growing poppies," said Diane Johnson, Afghanistan program director for Mercy Corps. She said the Portland, Ore. organization ...