The only thing I don't like about this article is the bit about Alexander being beat back in Afghanistan. Alexander's conquering of the world (such as it was) is one of the greatest and most distorted stories in human history. He wasn't beaten back in Afghanistan, he conquered all of it and moved on into India. His wife, Roxanne, was Afghani and came from Balkh which stood near the modern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Why did he take her as his wife? Among other things, he had just killed her father, the king of Bactra (the name of the entire region). I realize the press likes to aggrandize everything about our current enemies, but I feel the need to correct this bit as I know the history.

On a side note, I don't think Genghis Kahn was stopped at Afghanistan either. I'm pretty sure his empire went from the middle of Russia, over to Poland, down to the Gulf of India and all the way to the Pacific (though not Japan). And while it's true that the Soviets were beaten back, it's not as though the Afghani's didn't have the help of another certain world Superpower.

Some day, perhaps, the media will get it together.
- posted by levinson @ 9/18/2001 10:19:00 AM