Afghanistan again.....

Alexander the Great led his army into Afghanistan in the fifth century BC spending two years there.  He found the lands so enchanting that he fathered his only son with a beautiful woman from the north named Roxanne.  Alexander had conquered the best armies of the known world on his mission of bringing their lands into a community of Hellenistic ideas, culture and governance.  He left physical reminders of Greece, most notably Herat’s ancient citadel and other monoliths as a testament to all that Hellenism had to offer. 

Some of his men remained in these lands beginning the lineage that today makes up the blond-haired blue-eyed Afghan Nooristanis.  Like dust wedged in the crevices of their shields, those that did return to Greece no doubt brought back some of Afghanistan with them. 

Twenty three hundred years later, our boots again walk these lands to forge, in partnership, a lasting capacity for these people.  Many believe the Afghans can only be on the receiving end of this century’s version of the Greek message, but I believe that like then, a bit of that Afghan dust will remain on our shields when we return home.