Thats it. Thank you very much for coming. Recently, a hearing held on the increase of number of unwanted phone calls and scams aimed at Senior Citizens despite laws allowing people to opt out of receiving marketing calls. We heard from someone who was a victim of one of these phone scams as well as a federal trade Commission Top regulator and a Computer Science and networking specialist. You can watch the hearing at 4 30 p. M. Eastern time and well take your phone calls and questions immediately after. Over on cspan. The cspans city tour visits sites across the country to hear from authors and Civic Leaders every weekend on cspan 2s book tv. And American History tv on cspan 3. And this month with congress on its summer recess, you can find the cities tour on cspan every day at 6 00 eastern. Today, the literary life of lincoln, nebraska, including the letters of novelist, biography of chief standing bear, and a book about the removal of native American Children from their homes. That starts at 6 00 eastern on cspan. Well feature book tv programming weeknights in prime time on cspan 2 starting at 8 00 p. M. Eastern, and for the weekends, here are a few book tv special programs. Saturday, august 22nd, were live from jackson, mississippi for the inaugural mississippi book festival. Beginning at 11 30 a. M. Eastern with discussions on harper lee, civil rights and the civil war. On saturday, september 5th, were live from the nations capital. Followed on sunday with our live indepth program with former second lady and senior fellow at the American Enterprise institute, lynn cheney. Book tv on cspan 2. Award winning photo journalist documents 25 years in afghanistan for Time Magazine and the New York Times. He was one of the few photographers who had firsthand exposure to the rise of militant groups in the region, including al qaeda. Mr. Nicholsberg spoke in march reviewing the modern history of afghanistan through his photographs. He also talked about his career and his book, afghanistan, a distant war. Im going to give you a brief introduction on how i got to south asia. And then begin a rather rapid 60image presentation starting from 1988 and going up to 2013. In 1987, i moved from bangkok, thailand, where time had a bureau covering Southeast Asia when an opportunity opened up in india, new delhi to cover south asia. And having originally starting my career in very small countries, i never thought id end up ten years later in the massive land mass in south asia. If you look at the map, particularly National Geographic map, its quite huge. India itself as a continent is incredible, but when i landed, it was the end of the cold war. The context of that period of time, it was the end of the cold war. The United States in russia were still tank to tank in europe. We had tank counts back then if you remember. Central asia started to break apart from the soviet union. Which is something very difficult for a nation to encounter and deal with. So moving there, india was asleep at the time as a story for journalists, and i quickly was dumped into pakistan to follow the trail up to going through pakistan with backpacks and sort of the disappearing for a month. This was great in many respects. But for me, working for a wee y weekly, i had to deliver film, and it had to go from kabul to pakistan to europe to new york in 24 hours. Go to the lab. And that fourletter film is something quite foreign today. It was very manually driven. And the challenge was more logistic as well as editorial. The beginning and im going to bookend this conversation tonight with the withdrawal of the soviet army, now better for us tonight to call them the russians with the 2015 withdrawal of the americans. So here you have an afghan soldier handing a flag of friendship to the departing russians, which another element here i had to quickly deal with was the ambiguity and the gray area. And this is essential for anybody working in the region, whether its africa, Southeast Asia, china, europe, whatever. You have to embrace ambiguity. Keep in mind that the russians at this point had killed a million afghans. With artillery, carpet bombing, execution style. Context is very important here. What is this flag of friendship all about . Isi interservice intelligence decided it was time after the soviets had withdrawn to establish a foothold inside afghanistan. Insurgency, they d the capital of jalalabad and this is outside the airstrip. This is the rag tag army primarily the Major Ethnic Group in afghanistan. And you can see the rag tag quality of this, in particular, this captured russian for a hat. Hed obviously gotten that from a garrison theyd already overrun. This is about a 3hour run from the pakistan border in the pass. But keep in mind also, in this image, and i kind of knew it. But the arabs, bin laden in particular was 2 miles away over this ridge here. They were also at the airport, which was the front line. The battle failed, 8,000 killed, and it was a slap in the face to pakistan as well as the cia. That wasnt going to stop them, though. This is refugees fleeing along the same ride. A series of bomb explosions all along the line. They were obviously using this highway as a marker. Boots off and i was caught totally unaware. Thats about as close to carpet bombing as you want to get. So visas became available for journalists in 1988 for the withdrawal and that was a new chapter in coverage that meant official access to the city which had been cut off prior to this. Now the page was turned, and we could go into the city and document in particular interesting, the military academy. The confidence and training involved in the military academy of afghanistan. All members also whose families are probably without doubt. Having members of the communist party. Most of these people had to flee for their lives and ended up in pakistan, iran, india or perhaps europe. Compare that to this. Institutionally it began to implode and thats what we got in 2001. This is downtown kabul. This is april in april afghanistan. They were able to establish a foothold inside the country. Hakani who was the main tribal leader in this region. This is pakistan right here. You can see the importance of borders and geography. Itll be a recuring theme throughout this evening. This is when they were finally successful in taking over a province. And that spelled, basically doom for the government in kabul. Skud missiles were being used. That was the weapon of choice from the government that the soviets had left behind. You can see these are mostly agricultural guys living on the countryside being pushed across the border in afghanistan. And this is the main conduit for the cia and isi throughout the ten years war. This is one of the main areas they would visit. Very well educated. Basically the god father of global jihad. In the early 1980s, he went to mecca on a regular basis to raise money for the Training Camps inside afghanistan. Encourage by the cia and pakistan pakistanis. And he was also the one who befriended osama bin laden. I went there in 1980 to ask him with a reporter if he was training kasmiris, he was, that was the lead and the beginning of the conflict in india in 1989. He was also very hospitable, he didnt care i was an american, he didnt care what passport i had, he didnt care what he told me. It was very much matter of fact. Yes, im in favor of global jihad, anybody who wants to take it up can come here and train with me. Hes also the one who by friended osama bin laden. Hes rumored to be in a nursing home somewhere in pakistan, but his sons continue to maintain the network, and this is the backside of the camp. Thats a captured russian tank. This is the backside, you can see how well its folded into the draws of that terrain. Very difficult to see from above and very difficult for a missile to land in. A dry river bed. Right across the border from what is called pakistan. These camps are still active. One of the more ethnic groups i came across were the wooegers. There was a big compound. And fortunately enough, the reporter i was working with tony davis who spoke fluent mandarin and grew up in singapore came across we knew what was going on here. He was barking at them in mandarin. They freaked out and theyre looking down. They were only there for the weekend. The legacy of this, theyre still there in the training camp, still creating trouble for the chinese. Back to the city in kabul where you did need a visa. The daily life i was something i was interested ins a photojournalist. And here you have the traditional dance. It takes place every friday, their day of rest. As things got closer to 1992, this was going on but rocketing was also going on. Here you have the one and only daily newspaper being hocked by this young kid. The whole context and content in the photograph is one man who can read reading the newspaper to everyone who cant. This was in march of 1992. And knowing that the government was tottering. Time magazine insisting we do stay, volunteered to stay. Its fabulous situation. One week before the government collapsed, this is something i never thought about but dreamed of seeing how an attack on a government is carried out. This is essentially what afghanistan looks like ethnically. And if you learn to read faces, you can see all the major groups here, except the poshtuns. Its a nation of tribes, clans and ethnic groups. Here you have the recently defected minister of defense in uzebec. And pretty much that signals you the government is going to collapse. These are shia sect. One, two, three, and the very charismatic leader. Not the good graces of those who favor the poshtuns. Theyre announcing the takeover one week before it happens. Which ministries theyre going to attack and which intersections theyre going to go for. The whole competition here versus the poshtuns. One week later, youve got these fearless fighters blocking an intersection, and who are they blocking . But those coming in under the leadership. And also favored by the saudis. If you look closely, no shoes. We also thought their blood might be green. They were just mad and they loved to fight. The victory celebration lasted about 24 hours. 1993, the onus of any civil war falls on the civilians. And here you have a man who went out Early Morning who went to get probably milk, eggs or vegetables, caught in crossfire, injured being carried by a civilian and a policeman. A typical scene in downtown kabul in 1993. This is the kabul river that runs through the city. This is the ministry of defense that all the rocketing sending in 122 millimeter rockets. Devastating from some of you may know the phrase katusha rockets. Awful armament, but that was daily life for everybody. And this was a typical stand aside the puddle as the tank goes through the scene. Again, back to the civilians and how they suffered in downtown kabul. Fighting over western kabul, shia sunni, government, nongovernment, deals were being made all the time. But mortar tubes were being aimed essentially straight up. Artillery battles and gun battles. And this is one typical family leaving quickly. And if you have five seconds, 30 seconds, 2 minutes, what do you take . And it became very evident to me this was a serious move to get out of town or just move aside quickly, a bicycle, a teacup, a chicken, and a bag of food. The daughterinlaw and the mother. Combined household, and no men of fighting age. Eventually, they got to go back two or three days later, but they were caught in the crossfire on a hillside in downtown kabul. He was not a generous fellow. He not only rocketed the city, but he also cut gasoline, food and u. N. Supplies into the capital across the pass. So when gas became unavailable, you had to buy it on the black market, including us in taxis. And this is what it looks like if you have to take a taxi in the morning to go to work. 1993, about 25 people on this car. Its a russian volga. Very hearty vehicle. But you can see how low to the ground it is. It could be called the clown car, but its not really. This is the way you got to work because buses and taxis werent running. Again, the families suffer in here, a family of 6 without a breadwinner who a woman here whose husband had been killed in 1992, had a ration book for food worth about 15 a month. Squatting in an apartment in kabul. Downtown kabul in 1994, this is the Main Business district. The front line is right here, no mans land, and down in this, basically the center of the picture is our al qaeda fight s fighters, pakistanis and members of his group. These are government water boys during a lull in the activity. During one of the lulls in the activity, i went down with the british reporter to talk to these people in a similar situation of this at a round about. When all of a sudden, another group of five come up to them and challenge them and accuse this group of stealing their television. And why anyone would want to fight over a television where theres no electricity is beyond me. But how do they solve this argument . By lowering it and filling this guys stomach full of bullets. They came flying over here wanting to take our taxi. You can see its rare they have bayonets. That meant it was a little bit serious. We had to listen to them. And this is how you learn to work with the best afghans, translators, fixers, drivers, and in particular, this driver was renowned for his fearlessness and was clever. When he said, no, im sorry, the cars not working right, he would turn it olympic and it would whine and make a lot of noise, and they said, okay, were out of here. And they put the guy, mortally wounded one in a wheelbarrow and wheeled off. I would have never thought he had a cutoff switch underneath. Walking around kabul in 199394, youd be amazed in what you came across. I came across these executed hazara militia men, theyre shia. It was behind a clinic. Remember, the family that was fleeing the battle was over here. This area now is totally built up. But it was a cemetery and a clinic in the foreground here. These men had been shot and dumped, probably from another area. And this is a primarily a shia neighborhood. So this whole thing of sunni shia started to become more of an issue than it is today. And it was a tit for tat thing. We move from 1993 when complete chaos and civil war and roughly 85 of the country is involved in civil war to september of 1996 when the taliban had come up from kandahar city and eventually encircled kabul. All the militia groups fighting to keep them away eventually drew a truce with them. And these are two taliban firing 107millimeter rocket at the fleeing government of the minister of defense and the president roubani. You can see the ignition system, a magnito and their highend boots. Flipflops. In october of 1996, essentially, the government of the taliban came in to kabul. And this is reading out the riot act to the population. Theres no radio station, theres no television station, and there are no newspapers at this point. Everything had collapsed. But in relief of the civil war ending if relief of the civil w ending, what you now had to deal with was grow your beards for men, no women will be educated, no women will be allowed out of the house unless accompanied by a relative. Schools will be limited to only men. Shops will close during prayer time, men must pray during these hours. Grow a beard. No loud music. No singing canaries was one of the jokes going on because afghans lovebirds. But they do have a sense of humor that could go over a lot of peoples heads. But this is the way they establish control over afghanistan. On the top of the a vehicle, with a megaphone. Yes, the civil war had ended but these were the new rules of engagement. This is what they did to a University Science lab outside of kandahar. 1997, essentially 80 control over afghanistan. Were back to the uzbek rivalry here and 00 at this picture closely, the ministers of the interior, a big, burly beard and the uzbeks unable to grow beards. A former air force general had cut a deal with the taliban to give sharif in the northwestern corn of afghanistan to give it over to the taliban control and in return they would allow him to continue to be the leader. Within 36 hours this treaty collapsed and as journalists we knew this would not be a marriage made in heaven. Youk becks do not get along with posh toons. We managed to get one of the last flights into mushar sharif. And you can see the uzbeks, without beards. Descendants of gang us khan, and on the right, darker complexion and able and encouraged to grow beards. And note a lot of turbans with the taliban and they tie them in a significant way. So within 36 hours this is what happened and well end up with 800 dead taliban. This is the battle, i got bored with two other journalists and we could hear plinking going akrong on an airport road and we recognized this is a trap to sucker in the taliban and along the roof toops they were rooftops they were being sniped and someone walked across our path and opened fire on this fellow. And he came across, and this is the most of impact, you can see the brass casing. Hes just been hit, thrown back, and these are all of the taliban that were caught, including us, the three journalists. Hes going down, down. I had moved from this position, this fella here was about to fire an rpg, rocket propelled again aid into the doorway. This man had the look of death. He carries his friend away after firing the rocket and then all hell broke loose. 36 hours later this is what remained. Every single taliban that had come up to sharif was killed. They have no language in common. They are hated. And one of the most strange things the taliban could have done was to ask the men to turn in their weapons and they were never going to agree to that, so this treaty collapsed, 1997. These are red cross workers, icrc. It is in may. So it is about 100 degrees. The bodies did start to smell. In 1998, the taliban went back into sharif and killed 2200 locals. So revenge is very important. It continues to this day. That is how arguments are often decided or the reasons for the arguments and the way they conclude. In 2001, in february, now were getting closer to 9 11 so everything is heating up. The environment is not very pleasant for the taliban. Only three countries in the world recognize them. Saudi arabia, the emirates and pakistan. So in this case we had a bad drought in the North Western part of the country and the taliban had cut off aid, no food, shelter or clothing were allowed in and this is a baby from one of the refugees that died due to exposure. This is the father of the baby and this is the entourage to the cemetery. Every 50 or 100 feet, another person would come and offer to carry the baby to the grave site.