The war in Afghanistan made the front page of the NY Times yesterday.

The Times’ report on how the security situation in Afghanistan has “definitely deteriorated”, cites the shift in resources to Iraq and Bush’s unfulfilled promise to bring a Marshall Plan to Afghanistan as some of the reasons Coalition forces are dealing with increased attacks and suicide bombings. Coalition forces in the Kandahar region saw 11 times as many attacks in 2006 as 2002.

We would like to draw your attention, however, to the photo the Times ran with the online edition of the article.

American soldiers during an operation in the Zabul Province.

It’s unclear if the man crouching to the left with his hand over his face is an American soldier, or an Afghani fighting with American forces.

His crouch is atypical for American military posture. Even while at ease, look at the lines of the other men.

The Crouched Man’s helmet recalls WWI, that war of attrition, of thousands of lives per square foot of muddy field.

The presence of The Crouched Man undermines the West Point bravado of the soldier in the dark goggles. The Crouched Man is the “look what we’re in for.” He is the reminder that there is no such thing as a “good war”.