Ahmad Shah Massoud & The Unheeded Warning

If you're not familiar with him, the name might sound like one of many nondescript Middle Eastern leaders or even terrorists.  But he was anything but:  a beloved politician and military commander, Shah Massoud was an Afghan resistance leader against the Taliban who would go on to warn the world about the coming terrorist threat to the Western world.  His warnings would go unheeded and he would be killed in a terrorist bombing only 2 days before the 9/11 attacks in Manhattan.  So why don't more Americans know about this noble man's life?

Probably because he was an embarrassment to the intelligence agencies and politicians who wanted to pretend there's "no way we could've foreseen what happened" prior to the attacks.  The FBI, CIA, Condoleeza Rice, George Bush & Co.  But in the early months of 2001, Massoud went to France & spoke at large televised press conferences, begging for help defeating the Taliban.  His words were both ominous and specific:  "My message to President Bush is this:  If he isn't interested in peace in Afghanistan, if he refuses to help the Afghan people reach peace, the problems we're facing in Afghanistan will soon be America's problems and the rest of the world's."

So who was this brave man who had the courage to stand up against the oppressive power of the Taliban & risk his life to warn the world of this danger?  

"Lion of Panjshir"

Massoud meets with world leaders in April 2001

Like many other Afghani men of the time, Massoud served in the Mujahideen war against the Soviets in the 'late 70s and early '80s that ended up bringing down the Soviet Union permanently.  It was during this period he was given the title "Lion of Panjshir" by his fellow fighters.  He was respected by some and hated by others, with Osama bin Laden falling into the "hate" category.  Massoud was an ardent supporter of women's rights, globalization & democracy with a taste for literature & the arts.  This put him on the hit list of the Taliban who were rising to power in the mid-'90's.  While Massoud was a Muslim, he supported a less fundamental interpretation of the Quran & disagreed with the direction Afghanistan was going under Taliban control.  (As any sane person would).  Unlike most men, he was willing to put his life on the line to combat the growing threat.  It's certain many Afghani women felt similar but had no power to speak out.  They still don't.

Massoud's Northern Alliance was greatly outnumbered by Taliban fundamentalists.  He must've known he had a target on his back when he appeared on television & in interviews.  You can see the look of resignation on his face at some of the press conferences.  But still he soldiered on, pleading with the West to help fight the growing terrorist threat.  On September 9th, 2001, two terrorists posing as journalists sneaked onto an airplane with bombs inside their cameras & proceeded to set up for an "interview" with Massoud.  One other man was present across the street preparing for the interview when he saw a bright flash of yellow light & then watched in horror as Massoud was carried out, badly injured.  The suicide bombers had killed him and become "martyrs".  

Two days later the Twin Towers would meet a similar fate along with 3,000+  Americans.

Within an hour of the attacks, the media had pinned them on Osama bin Laden & his Taliban--people most average Americans had never heard of at the time.  How did they know?  Maybe because they had advance warning and had ignored it until it was too late.  Massoud wasn't the only one to warn us ahead of time, to be sure:  John O'Neill of the FBI and Sibel Edmonds, a translator for the FBI, had also tried in vain to warn those in higher positions of what was coming but were given the brush-off.  Mr. O'Neill died in the 9/11 attacks that day--he was working at his new security job at the Twin Towers after becoming disillusioned with the FBI position.  According to close friend Chris Isham, O'Neill had joked that the terrorists would likely "finish the job" after the 1993 bombing of the WTC now that he'd decided to work there.  He was right.  

Massoud's Legacy

Ahmad Massoud, son of Shah Massoud

If there's one bright spot in this story, it's that Shah's son Ahmad Massoud carries on his father's fight against the Taliban today.  Son Ahmad leads the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA) against the Taliban in the Panjshir Valley and says "surrender is not in his vocabulary".  Like his father, he's an educated man who supports a Swiss model of power relations in the country.  And like his father he's also asked for the international community's help in defeating the Taliban, who he claims is even "more radical" than before.  

If the West fails to support him and allows him to meet the same fate as his beloved father we will have only ourselves to blame when another terrorist strike happens at home or abroad.  Biden's claim that the Afghani resistance "isn't trying" is offensive to those who have been trying for decades and indeed before the September 11 attacks happened.