prevent more bloody games in Afghanistan? In the opening chapter of Moby Dick, Ishmael laments that the “Fates” have sent him on a “shabby” whaling voyage, while other men of his epoch are sent on “magnificent” ventures instead. One such “high tragedy” was the “Bloody Battle in Afghanistan,” which Ishmael describes as among the “more extensive performances” in “the grand programme of Providence.” In the hundred and seventy years since the publication of Moby Dick, imperial providence has