A US Marine from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, Bravo company shoulders his weapon as his unit patrols around Mirage patrol base, Musa Qala District, in Afghanistan's Helmand province on February 8, 2011. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on February 8, 2011 that he was in talks with the United States about the possible establishment of permanent US military bases in his war-ravaged country.
(Photo by DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/Getty Images)
