Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan ~ (Frank L. Holt, 2005)

[Haris]

How lucky are you PF that I managed to find a downloadable PDF version (without you having to pay )!




Read Online: Into the Land of Bones (Alexander the great in Afghanistan)

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[Lemar]

Hey thank you so much! I was looking for this

[graveyardofempires]

check Page 30.


Alexander’s claims of legitimacy as a liberator; they questioned
the sincerity of his efforts to respect Persian religion and to promote
a true partnership with local princes.44 So, as the invaders
battled deep into what is modern-day Iraq, and their forces occupied
the entire region, Bactria became the refuge of what
Alexander called, in turn, a rogue regime that harbored warlords
and terrorists. Using rhetoric that still resonates today,
Alexander denounced these men as lawless savages, the enemies
of civilization. In what he called a new and dangerous world,
Alexander warned his followers that these resourceful criminals
would continue to exploit differences of religion, language, and
culture to rouse attacks against innocent victims. They must be
confronted with overwhelming military force, and stopped;
their leaders must answer—dead or alive—for their crimes.45
Not to act was to jeopardize the safety of Greece itself. “This is
a noble cause,” proclaimed Alexander to his armed forces, “and
you will always be honored for seeing it through to the end.”46
Then, backed by unbridled support, the most powerful leader of
the time led the most sophisticated army of its day against the
warlords of Afghanistan. Ask those ancient Greek and Macedonian
ghosts to reflect upon our situation today, and they might
feel strangely at home. The old dictum “Plus ça change, plus
c’est la même chose” (The more things change, the more they remain
the same) ought to be the official motto of Afghanistan.
When in turn the British, Russians, and Americans each
seized Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, they occupied a city
founded by Alexander himself and still bearing the Arabic version
of his name. When U.S. troops charged on horseback
against the Taliban strongholds of Mazar-i-Sharif, they rode
past the crumbling walls of Alexander’s main camp, and the cap-