“Afghanistan is my sucking chest wound, and always will be because — despite what we’ve seen these recent weeks — wars do not end with a withdrawal or retreat or retrograde or the signing of a peace treaty. Instead, they ebb and flow within the memories of those who were there and the ones who received an unfortunate knock on the door one day from people in uniforms. On those battlegrounds, there is a permanent shattering. It’s the real ‘forever war.'” AP: A U.S. Marine, a curious Afghan boy, an unfathomable moment.

+ “Taqi Daryabi and Nematullah Naqdi from daily newspaper Etilaatroz said they were beaten for hours with rifle butts and electrical cables, for covering a protest led by women.” This Is What a Free Press Looks Like Under the Taliban. (The Taliban even described journalists as the enemy of the people. Oh wait, that wasn’t the Taliban.)