December. Christmas. Anticipation of shopping in crowded colourful malls, the fun of hiding gifts, playing music, decorating the tree, cooking up a storm and trying to fit everything into a fraction the time it takes to do anything. Christmas is a beloved tradition, a rich emotion, and an anchor in a global season when schedules get shelved for magical moments with family and friends. Everyone who includes horses as part of the ritual will know that each year, PPHJ's "In the Shadow of Equus"column has offered a different take on the Christmas story with, of course, the essential horse connection.

But this year feels different. The world -- at least, the western world we know -- is not quite the same comfortable, predictable place. We may be paying attention to the festive stuff but there is a more urgent need to grasp the underlying single message of Christmas almost lost that fateful sunny September 11th day: Peace.

We learned about terror that day. And in the weeks that followed, we realised the extent to which evil minds celebrate death and destruction. Fundamentalist visions of culture and faith demonstrated with lethal accuracy that fanatic and dangerous ideas include western civilisation in their crosshairs.

Backtrack two thousand years to the world of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in Judaea. They, too, knew terror. The land of Palestine was under Roman rule. The Jews were a conquered people ruled by a line of puppet kings who kept brutal power by military force and terror tactics. When rumour gave strength to rumour that a King of the Jews had been born, Herod, jealously mindful of his position in Roman politics, dispatched camel-travelling Wise Men in search of the newborn child.

Melchior, Balthasar and Kaspar, though, were knowledgeable in the predictions of ancient astronomy, quick on their feet with math and knew a sign of significance when they saw one. They kept their own counsel and never returned to Herod who, in fury and with characteristic savagery, dispatched mounted soldiers to kill all children two years and under. There would be no King of the Jews on his watch.
Joseph, though, was a step ahead of him. Under cover of night and on a trusted donkey, he and Mary fled with Jesus to Egypt. In the ancient unfolding drama of terror and refuge, the horse as creature of war and the donkey as creature of peace were already writing their roles in the parchments of history.

Afghanistan today. A place as rugged, wild, independent and beautiful as its 27 million people who co-exist in close to 30 ethnic groups, tribes or sub-tribal factions. Their cultures mingle with folklore. Legend has it that the Hazara are directdescendants of Genghis Khan and the Mongols. Feuds, rivalries and clannish clashes endure daily under the dictates of warlords and they argue in more than 34 different languages and dialects. But beyond the village bickering, they will agree on two things: Hatred of the Taliban and love of the horse.

Afghans are superb horsemen. They domesticated the Qataghani pony renowned for its strength and endurance and a larger breed of horse was raised on the steppes of Faryab and Balkh. They were animals bred for war, transportation and for playing ÒbozkuskiÓ, the wild game that imitates ancient battles and which is played with the carcass of a goat. Through the game, Afghans remember famous horses, famous horsemen and moments of monumental victories.

Now, though, the battle is for real. Fighting as the Northern Alliance (United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan), they are engaged in the war of a lifetime. Teamed with U.S. Special Forces and their allies, they are mounted to defeat the Taliban and help oust Osama bin Laden.

Special Forces members likely didn't expect the horse connection. They arrived with some pretty glittering arsenal -- Predator spy planes, B52s, F-15 Strike Eagles, smart bombs and daisy cutters. But when air raids cleared a path for Special Forces to get in on the ground, it wasn't the keys to a Land Cruiser that got them into the countryside, but the reins of a horse. And it made total strategic sense. The quiet manoeuvrability of the horse let them cut time and distance rather than coping with noisy vehicles on roads ripe for ambush. Photo images of mounted Special Forces riding alongside Northern Alliance members surprised even U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who said that drop orders (for supplies of food, ammunition, medical supplies and winter gear) have also included requests for saddles, bridles and horse feed. Once airdrop supplies are retrieved, donkeys are loaded up and taken to strategic locations.

Afghanistan today may be two thousand years and many thousands of kilometres from the Bethlehem of Jesus' time. But the quest for peace goes on and the horse and the donkey continue to etch theirhoofprints in the twisting trails of history. Beneath the fighter jets of the modern age, they have stood saddled and ready to carry a prophet to a destiny and justice to a nation.