The Insanity of War

"Lord, have mercy on the beautiful, innocent children of war."

This image is borrowed without permission from Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images from the "Afghanistan: 2011" photo series at The Atlantic's "In Focus with Alan Taylor."

This horrendous scene is stunning—and depressing. NATO tanker trucks full of fuel making their way through Pakistan (our supposed ally) to Afghanistan were attacked by GUYS ON MOTORBIKES—motorbikes—and blown up. How many millions of dollars in equipment and fuel is going up in smoke because a bunch of guys in sandals on motorbikes blew them up? It's this kind of insanity that makes the average person (Southerner, at least) wonder who's in charge over there? This is really depressing. (I say that with respect for our military commanders. But neither the U.S. nor NATO can afford this kind of waste, the fog of war notwithstanding.)

This image is borrowed without permission from Banaras Khan/AFP/Getty Images from the "Afghanistan: 2011" photo series at The Atlantic's "In Focus with Alan Taylor."