Understated headline of the year.

[rug]

Ongoing conflict severely limits tourism in Afghanistan

By Lianne Gutcher, Special for USA TODAY
Updated 15h 39m ago

KABUL, Afghanistan — Travel agent Sayed Zamanuddin Baha gets calls from people all over the world asking if they can see Tora Bora, the cave complex where Osama bin Laden slipped away from invading U.S. forces in 2001.

"Come! We will help you with your trip," the president of Afghan Tours says he tells callers. "But no one ever comes."

Tourism was once a significant business in Afghanistan. In the 1970s, about 120,000 tourists visited the country each year, generating millions of dollars in income for Afghans, says Baha.

But then came the invasion by the former Soviet Union, which spun into bloody civil wars, which were followed by a takeover from the repressive anti-Western clerical movement known as the Taliban. An invasion by U.S-led forces in 2001 to oust the Taliban led to 10 years of warfare in which NATO troops and Afghan soldiers are up against warlords and terrorists.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/afghanistan/story/2012-05-27/Afghanistan-tourism-limited-by-war/55237330/1

[liberal N proud]

1. Afghanistan has tourism?

[rug]

2. "But no one ever comes."

[BlueToTheBone]

4. It used to be beautiful and very

liberal. I met a woman who came to the US after the Taliban and the stories she told of her home sounded wonderful. She was highly educated and was a "middle class" Afghan from Kabul.

[LiberalEsto]

3. Geez, and we were just planning our Kabul River luxury cruise

on the Costa Concordia.

Anyone know if we can get refunds?

[rug]

5. No refund but you may get a rebate on a Taedong River cruise.

[Robb]

6. Somalia has 2,000 miles of beautiful beaches.

Aside from the little difficulty with the government there, it's nice. Oh, and all the toxic waste Ali Madhi let the Europeans dump and bury there. And let's not forget the pirates. And the goddamn sharks.

I actually think tourism will flourish in Afghanistan sooner than Somalia. And Afghanistan's beach property market is in the tank.

[rug]

7. Do they have a Pirates of the Persian Gulf ride?