'Afghan girl' cover image stirs debate

Time magazine picture tells graphic story of Taliban abuse

NEW YORK - The face on the cover of Time magazine is graceful, composed and unthinkably maimed. The heart-shaped hole where 18-year-old Aisha's nose should be is a mark of Taliban justice - a visceral illustration, the headline suggests, of "what happens if we leave Afghanistan".'

The portrait quickly has become a symbol of the stakes of a nearly decade-old war. It has been brandished before House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on television, dissected in online commentary and extrapolated into a conversation-starter about topics ranging from anti-abortion activism to violence against women.