David over at War is Boring compares and contrasts the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Our politicos have lumped the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan together under the same ridiculous “war on terror” moniker, but these are two very different conflicts.

Most of Iraq’s major cities – Erbil and Sulaymaniyah in Kurdistan are the major exceptions – are nearly instantly lethal to unfortified foreigners. But I stumbled around Kabul in the middle of the night in a t-shirt and sandals, completely lost and making a lot of noise, and I survived. (Unless, of course, I’m dead and Kabul is Hell. Or worse, Heaven.)

. . .

Reconstruction in Iraq is mostly a function of the U.S. and British armies and a handful of very brave nonprofits. This necessarily limits the speed and effectiveness of efforts to rebuild the country’s economy. In Afghanistan, on the other hand, you can’t swing a dead goat without hitting some non-military aid group: U.N., E.U., U.S. State Department, the British Foreign Office, Catholic Relief Service, CHF and many others – they’re all here, and security is such that they can actually do their jobs in all but the remotest corners.

. . .

And Afghan music sucks as hard as Iraqi music does.

War is Boring is always a great read.