As the USA points to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden as the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, talk is rising of the once unthinkable: that America could go to war in Afghanistan, the country that shelters him. It is no secret that Afghanistan is one of the toughest places on earth to wage war. Its brutal geography and battle-hardened locals resisted occupation by Russia and Britain for centuries. Moscow's forces pulled out of the country in 1989 after a decade of war. Picture taken in 1987 shows a Russian soldier looking at Soviet troops on the move heading for a combat operation in Afghanistan. — REUTERS