(sigh) Why the he** are we there, again?

May 7, 2010 - Dust storms in Pakistan and Afghanistan

This image of Pakistan and Afghanistan was captured by the MODIS on the Terra satellite on May 5, 2010. A dust storm is blowing near the Afghanistan (north) - Pakistan (south) border, then curving back northwards along Pakistan's Balochistan Plateau and Siahan Range. Near the center of the image, north of the desert inside Afghanistan's border is the city of Kandahar. The light tan color of the dust makes waves and ripples over the dark brown and gray terrain below. Some of the features in the dust are best viewed on the higher resolution images.

This region is home to a variety of landscapes: high mountains (including K2 in northern Pakistan), inhospitable plateaus, harsh deserts, arid steppes, alpine fields, and alluvial plains.

http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2010-05-07

(Rhetorical question, no need to answer it......)

Why, just look at all that dust.