To accompany Picture Package AFGHANISTAN – A DECADE OF WAR

THIS PICTURE IS ONE OF 53 TOP IMAGES FROM THE AFGHAN CONFLICT AHEAD OF THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR ON OCTOBER 7, 2011.

Monica McNeal (R) cries as she hugs a U.S. Marine at the grave (L) of her 19-year-old son Eric Ward, at Arlington National Cemetery, in this May 27, 2010 file photo. Ten years ago, U.S. forces began bombing Afghanistan in retaliation against its Taliban rulers who refused to hand over the al Qaeda leaders responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Within weeks, the air strikes had helped Afghan opponents topple the Taliban, but in the decade since, the deposed Islamist fighters have returned to mount an ever more aggressive insurgency against an Afghan government backed by the United States and NATO. Since U.S. President Barack Obama took office in 2009, the U.S. force has tripled in size, but Washington and NATO now plan to begin withdrawing and to hand over responsibility for Afghanistan’s security to Afghan forces by 2014. REUTERS/Jason Reed/Files (UNITED STATES – Tags: MILITARY CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT)