*Ø* Blogmanac September 9, 2001 | The death of the Lion of the Panjsher
If there never had been a war, I would have been a very good architect.
Ahmad Shah Masoud, The Times, London, 1999
In all the hubbub and hype of the week, it's timely to recall the event that, in my opinion, ushered in the century and the Age of the New US Imperialism.
Two days before 9-11, Ahmad Shah Masoud, warrior-intellectual hero of the resistance to Russian imperialism and Taliban lunocracy, was assassinated by suicide bombers posing as journalists. It was big news when it happened, and like many I was stunned, but like everyone else except al Qaeda, I hadn't the slightest idea what it was leading up to within 48 hours. In fact, we weren't even sure he was dead because his cadres denied it, saying he was only wounded, as they played for time to regroup and plan.
Afghanistan: Masoud Largely Recalled As Hero, Two Years After Assassination
By J.M.Ledgard
"Thousands of mourners gathered in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley this week to mark the second anniversary (9 September) of the death of celebrated military commander Ahmad Shah Masoud. Masoud is buried in a domed mausoleum on a hilltop near his home village of Jangalak. In Kabul, Transitional Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai and other officials, including Masoud's young son, gathered at the city's sports stadium and praised him as a hero and a martyr.
"Kabul, 11 September 2003 (RFE/RL) – His picture is everywhere in Afghanistan.
"The scraggly beard, the wool cap set back on the head, the piercing eyes – a mix of musician Bob Marley and Cuban revolutionary leader Che Guevara, a poet and a warrior ...
"“He is Ahmad Shah Masoud, the so-called 'Lion of Panjshir,' the leader of the Northern Alliance, which fought against the Soviets, resisted the Taliban, and swept to power after a U.S.-backed military campaign in late 2001.
"Masoud – one name is enough – was the most charismatic commander in a nation of commanders ...
"Masoud was murdered by suicide bombers disguised as television journalists on 9 September 2001. The assassins are suspected to have had links with Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, and his death is viewed as the precursor to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001.
"By killing Masoud, it is thought, bin Laden knew America would come after him and his Taliban hosts. He correctly guessed that Washington would prefer to do this in part through the proxy force of Masoud's Northern Alliance.
"Getting rid of Masoud, the reasoning goes, would buy bin Laden more time. Perhaps it did."
Source
Why Masoud had to die – one theory
"Analysts initially believed that the killing of Ahmed Shah Masoud, head of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, was part of Bin Laden's preparations for Sept. 11--a move to deprive the U.S. of a potential ally on the ground when it retaliated for the suicide hijackings.
"Government officials now say Masoud's assassination was part of a more ambitious design: to establish a caliphate, or religious state, encompassing Afghanistan and parts of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya and the predominantly Muslim Xinjiang region of northwestern China.
"'Their plan was to capture [northern] Afghanistan in one week after the assassination and--maybe two to three weeks later--capture Tajikistan and Uzbekistan,' said Mohammad Arif, chairman of the National Security Directorate in the interim Afghan government."
Source
* Ø * Ø * Ø *
"Masoud is the greatest of Afghan war heroes," former US Ambassador to Pakistan Robert Oakley, who knew Masoud in the 1980s, said in 1999. "He was a magnificent fighter and not a butcher. He was a devout Muslim and not a fanatic. He not only survived the Soviets, he beat them."
I, for one, would like to see Masoud be awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize
If there never had been a war, I would have been a very good architect.
Ahmad Shah Masoud, The Times, London, 1999
In all the hubbub and hype of the week, it's timely to recall the event that, in my opinion, ushered in the century and the Age of the New US Imperialism.
Two days before 9-11, Ahmad Shah Masoud, warrior-intellectual hero of the resistance to Russian imperialism and Taliban lunocracy, was assassinated by suicide bombers posing as journalists. It was big news when it happened, and like many I was stunned, but like everyone else except al Qaeda, I hadn't the slightest idea what it was leading up to within 48 hours. In fact, we weren't even sure he was dead because his cadres denied it, saying he was only wounded, as they played for time to regroup and plan.
Afghanistan: Masoud Largely Recalled As Hero, Two Years After Assassination
By J.M.Ledgard
"Thousands of mourners gathered in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley this week to mark the second anniversary (9 September) of the death of celebrated military commander Ahmad Shah Masoud. Masoud is buried in a domed mausoleum on a hilltop near his home village of Jangalak. In Kabul, Transitional Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai and other officials, including Masoud's young son, gathered at the city's sports stadium and praised him as a hero and a martyr.
"Kabul, 11 September 2003 (RFE/RL) – His picture is everywhere in Afghanistan.
"The scraggly beard, the wool cap set back on the head, the piercing eyes – a mix of musician Bob Marley and Cuban revolutionary leader Che Guevara, a poet and a warrior ...
"“He is Ahmad Shah Masoud, the so-called 'Lion of Panjshir,' the leader of the Northern Alliance, which fought against the Soviets, resisted the Taliban, and swept to power after a U.S.-backed military campaign in late 2001.
"Masoud – one name is enough – was the most charismatic commander in a nation of commanders ...
"Masoud was murdered by suicide bombers disguised as television journalists on 9 September 2001. The assassins are suspected to have had links with Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, and his death is viewed as the precursor to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001.
"By killing Masoud, it is thought, bin Laden knew America would come after him and his Taliban hosts. He correctly guessed that Washington would prefer to do this in part through the proxy force of Masoud's Northern Alliance.
"Getting rid of Masoud, the reasoning goes, would buy bin Laden more time. Perhaps it did."
Source
Why Masoud had to die – one theory
"Analysts initially believed that the killing of Ahmed Shah Masoud, head of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, was part of Bin Laden's preparations for Sept. 11--a move to deprive the U.S. of a potential ally on the ground when it retaliated for the suicide hijackings.
"Government officials now say Masoud's assassination was part of a more ambitious design: to establish a caliphate, or religious state, encompassing Afghanistan and parts of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya and the predominantly Muslim Xinjiang region of northwestern China.
"'Their plan was to capture [northern] Afghanistan in one week after the assassination and--maybe two to three weeks later--capture Tajikistan and Uzbekistan,' said Mohammad Arif, chairman of the National Security Directorate in the interim Afghan government."
Source
"Masoud is the greatest of Afghan war heroes," former US Ambassador to Pakistan Robert Oakley, who knew Masoud in the 1980s, said in 1999. "He was a magnificent fighter and not a butcher. He was a devout Muslim and not a fanatic. He not only survived the Soviets, he beat them."
I, for one, would like to see Masoud be awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize
Pip Wilson posted item above at 10:45 PM | Permalink
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