Dear Vice,
When the Soviets left Afghanistan in the late 1980s they left behind the blood and bones of thousands of their soldiers, a deep and abiding hatred for all things Russian, the most experienced insurgents in the world, and billions of dollars worth of equipment. (Is it any wonder that their economy collapsed a few years later?) Most of it is rusting and rotting away where it was left, or in junkyards. If the Afghan people were a bit more ambitious and/or organized, they’d be stripping this stuff down and recycling it. It’s possible that some of the engines could be rebuilt, some of the vehicles might be salvageable, and all of the metal, rubber, and glass is recyclable. I’m sure that individuals have picked over this debris and junk here and there, but there has been no organized or consistent effort. This stuff will probably still be here in 50 years. Here are a couple of pictures of some of it.
GREG PAPADATOS

PS: If I live long enough to see the end of our “Global War On Terrorism”— which seems unlikely—I’d like to revisit Iraq and Afghanistan, and see what, if anything, the locals are doing with the junkyards full of American equipment left behind.