Opinion: Ted Rall: Cartoon blogging daily from Afghanistan

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In November 2001, I went to Afghanistan to cover the U.S. invasion. I witnessed the end of the beginning of America’s longest war, the Battle of Kunduz. Now I’m going back for the beginning of the end.

I’ll head first to Taloqan to try to track down the man who worked for me in 2001 as a driver-translator-facilitator. The town has recently fallen under Taliban control several times, and I’m not sure what I’ll find when I get there.

Then it’s off to the most rugged and remote parts of the county, where few Western reporters venture. Even the Lonely Planet Guide doesn’t cover this area. We’ll travel through the western deserts along the border with Iran and the northern Mazar-to-Herat road, reputed to be “the worst road in Afghanistan.” Our goal is to try to see the war from the standpoint of ordinary people in Afghanistan.

Accompanying me will be two fellow cartoonists, the editorial cartoonist Matt Bors and the Web cartoonist Steven L. Cloud (“Boy on a Stick and Slither”). Cloud is a veteran of hard travel, having driven across Asia from eastern Europe to Mongolia. On the other hand, this will be Bors’ first trip outside the United States.

During the trip, I will be filing cartoons from the field, every day, by satellite. It’s live-action cartoon reporting.

I am nervous but excited.

-- Ted Rall

Follow Ted Rall’s Afghanistan adventures daily here at http://opinion.latimes.com. Click on the cartoons above and below for larger versions.