He can‟t get in yet. —James Wright Reality is a very effective teacher. —Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Najibullah: Letter to My Daughters II September 6th, 1996 One final roadblock, one ragtag roadblock more. The four years, five months and three weeks that have passed since then have not dulled the memories of that barricade and that night and the near-miss of my efforts, dear daughters, to reach you and your wonderful mother. The weather was clear, leaving stars visible. It was nearly 2 a.m. I sat in the middle of a three-vehicle convoy. We‟d passed safely through four previous checkpoints with the use of a UNdevised code phrase. (My sense of humor still intact, I suggested "Release the Bull," but the sober UN representatives rejected that.) We were down to a few hundred yards and one last scraggly bunch of fighters separating me from my family, and then I would be in the air, long before dawn left its first morning kiss on Kabul soil.
