What Would "The Man Who Would Be King" Think Today?

Fascinating little history story of the first American in Afghanistan.

What would he have made of his own country's forays into Afghanistan and Iraq nearly two centuries later? In some respects he might have approved. He believed strongly in using military force to bring civilization to the benighted of the earth. He was no friend to tyrants and religious fanatics: he would have been equally revolted by the extremism of the Taliban and the brutality of Saddam Hussein.

Yet he was also insistent that the imperial impulse brought with it heavy responsibilities, an obligation to treat indigenous cultures with respect, to work within local power structures. He saw the British occupation through the eyes of an Afghan, but his response was that of an American; instead of bringing enlightenment, he believed, the British had imposed their own heavy-handed tyranny, and would pay the price in anger and bloodshed. Today, 165 years later, it is America's turn to stand accused of brutal occupation, as the grim and graphic secrets of Abu Ghraib prison are revealed.

Amazon has The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan book on sale.