THE (AUSTRALIAN AUTHORISED) STRONGMAN

This piece ran on Saturday. It's about 'MK', a very clever Afghan who's on his way to bigger things . . .

PAKISTAN'S REACTION TO AUSTRALIA'S POSTURING

Sorry, I've gotten a bit behind while attempting to keep the filing of columns up. This News story ran on Monday 28th March . . .

AUSTRALIA'S HEROIN CROP

Shh! No onc's allowed to talk about the poppy crop we're condoning . . .

THE POPPY CROP

This year's crop of poppies are about an inch high in Oruzgan - and the farmers are predicting a boom crop.

This story's about the completely ineffective 'war on drugs' . . .

THE PALACE OF PEACE

Everything is tragic in Afghanistan, but perhsps nothing more so than reminders of the past and what could have been . . .

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year, well, Narouz, anyway.

Afghanistan (sensibly) uses the Persian calender, where the first day of Spring is celebrated as the beginning of the year. Yesterday I watched as a flower blossomed, springing into life in front of my eyes.

But with this come questions over the countries future, and what will happen next . . .

SPY GAMES

In the years of Empire the European powers sought to extend their grip over central Asia. This rivalry quickly became known as "the great game".

In Islamabad it still sometimes appears as if the new powers are playing out their own spy novel fantasy thrillers, without regard for the people of the region.

This was my take from Islamabad . . .