one of my sons has just ret from afghanistan and i put the question to him re glasses, his answer the sun glasses protect their eyes from intense heat and they are specially toughened to protec the eyes from explosions, ie grenades etc... as far as the locals go he said that when in village settings meetings they come off to show respect, this was his second combat tour regards john hellyer

I must agree with your comments I have always looked on reflective glasses as an affront and can only guess what the locals feel.My father was a greek and in his culture, eye contact is imperative to good relations. jack