1. Zarghona Salehi KABUL, Dec 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Despite the observance of the International Mountain Day in Kabul on Monday, the fact remains that plants and bushes across the war–worn country are at a great risk.

2. Pointing out that Bush‘s request comes out to $15.8 billion per month, Adams said: "Iraq, Afghanistan, and the war on terror are not getting cheaper. . . . This will go down some, as the surge comes home, but not as much as people think." He added: "More and more of these so–called emergency funds are being used to repair and buy new military hardware," because "the Pentagon is worried that defense budgets will start to go down next year." The CRS reports that a good part of the increased spending is not only for replacing lost equipment but "more often to upgrade and replace ‘stressed‘ equipment and enhance force protection." It noted that a recent Congressional Budget Office study "found that more than 40% of the Army‘s spending for repair and replacement of war–worn equipment" was "spent to upgrade systems to increase capability, to buy equipment to eliminate longstanding shortfalls in inventory" and to convert new combat units to more flexible organizational structures.