Amb Eikenberry Visits Kunar Prov: Pinhead Photos Available

On May 16, US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry visited Kunar Province and gave a speech. The embassy says that “5 Afghan journalists, from Ariana TV, Shamshad TV and Pajhwok News Agency accompanied Ambassador Eikenberry on his recent visit to Kunar province. The trip was widely and positively reported in the media, who also highlighted the presence of the Governor, two Afghan ministers and one deputy minister. Local media in Kunar, including BBC and RTA also covered elements of the trip.”

US Embassy Kabul posted some 20 photos of the trip both in its Facebook and Flickr page. They’re all postage stamp size like this one:

Its Flickr page does not have any other size except for what they call a “large” size at 129 x 85.


Gosh! Why even bother sharing these photos in social networking media if all you have are pinhead size versions? Whose bright idea is this?

I must note that the big guy in the White House has his own photostream in Flickr. The photos are all good quality in various sizes for download. They are all marked "United States Government Work" and except for the following notation, are available to the public under Creative Commons.

This official White House photograph is being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way or used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

Secretary Clinton also has her own photostream in Flickr. All sizes are available for download under the Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license.


So really -- I don't know what kind of thinking went into this ...