U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Protected By Dyncorp Security Men, Speaks To Kandahar and Uruzgan Officials And Tribal Elders

NEAR KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - SEPTEMBER 9: US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, visits Kandahar Province to attend the ground breaking ceremony at the Kandahar to Tarin Kote Highway project September 9, 2004. The $20 million usd project is funded by USAID and detailed through a UN operations organization. Khalilzad spoke to Kandahar and Uruzgan officials and Pashtun tribal elders 30 kms north of Kandahar under a US Army tent and was surrounded at all times by US security personnel of Dyncorp. The 130 km highway will connect Kandahar city with Tarin Kote, Uruzgan Province's capital and go through Taliban controlled territory. Construction will be done by US Army soldiers and civilian contractors. The road journey now takes 12 hours and will be cut to 3 hours. Khalilzad, an Afghan-American born in Mazar-e-Sharif, emigrated to the US as a teenager and is an American citizen brought into office by the Republican administration. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)