In the news headlines, we always hear about Afghanistan, yet we know nothing much about the politics and history of that rugged country; a history which might surprise many readers when one contemplates the life and times of Ahmed Shah Massoud, a Sunni Muslim born on September 2,1953, and assassinated by bin Laden on September 9, 2001, just two days before 9/11. Massoud has been declared the National Hero of Afghanistan and the day of his death is a national holiday. In 2002, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the highest honour that the esteemed Nobel organization bestows annually. He was 48 years old and was killed by two operatives of of al Qaida posing as press people. His body was riddled with shrapnel, and he died in the back of an old Land Rover as his men tried to get him to a hospital in Kazakhstan.
It is widely assumed that the reason bin Laden had him killed is because he knew that once 9/11 was done, the Americans would have given Massoud all the military assistance he needed to defeat the Taliban army and al Qaida, and Massoud was the only one who could have accomplished that. Many observers have noted that if there was one man who could have hunted bin Laden down even if he was hiding under a rock, it was Massoud, a bitter enemy of al Qaida and the Taliban.
Bin Laden himself had said about Massoud: “As long as this man is alive, no victory is possible.” Editor, if one uses the internet to probe the life of Massoud, one will quickly realize why this man was so loved in his country and by foreign individuals and international agencies. Massoud was an architect by profession, but by the age of 26 he joined in the struggle against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, and quickly rose to be the top resistance leader. He was known as the ‘Lion of Panjshir,’ where most of the serious battles were fought; the Russian army committed their best military units against Massoud’s forces and suffered the most losses against him (70% of all battlefield causalities). The Wall Street Journal stated that it was Massoud who was the one most responsible for the fall of Soviet communism and the BerlinWall, because the Russian invasion and defeat in Afganistan heralded the downfall of communism.
Massoud was a devout Muslim and was a fierce nationalist who was against any foreign domination, including that of the United States, but he always tried to work with the Americans to bring a lasting peace to his devastated country, especially after the Taliban and al Qaida forces in 1996, aided and abetted by Pakistan, invaded and defeated the new coalition government set up after the Russians had departed. At that time, Massoud was the Defence Minister (1992-1996) and he was forced to flee and organize against the Taliban government eventually; by 1999, his was the only resistance to Taliban despotism. The lack of support for Massoud by the Clinton administration severely retarded his resistance and led to the strengthening of Taliban and al Qaeda control of Afghanistan, but as before, with only his brilliant strategies and loyal and dedicated fighters, Massoud carried on through the Northern Alliance he formed, to success on the battlefield against the Taliban. By the time of his assassination (one of the killers was traced; he was a Moroccan by birth and was a known as an al Qaida fanatic), Massoud’s forces were a serious threat to the Taliban rulers – the rest is history.
Editor, the recent history of Afghanistan is really a history of Ahmed Shah Massoud, an Islamist to the bone, but dedicated to tolerating of Western ideas and dedicated to the people of his country. His story is one of courage under fire; he frequently read Islamic poetry between actual combat and was calm in the eye of any military storm. Many times Russian troops thought they had him but his military prowess was so superior, he always survived, counterattacked and won many battles. He was as the haunting National Geographic magazine portrayed him: “his aquiline good looks and courage make Massoud an iconic image of the modern freedom fighter.” When the Taliban in 1992 attacked Kabul, Massoud refused to allow civilians to be killed, so he abandoned the capital to continue the fight elsewhere. During the war with the Russians, he evacuated 30,000 civilians from the Panjshir Valley to avoid casualties from the Russian bombardment; he was a leader who always cared about the welfare of civilians first. With scant resources, Massoud was able to defeat a nuclear power, the Soviet Union, with such success that his name will go down in history as one of the greatest modern liberators. The role of the USA, especially during the Clinton years (1992-2000) in Afghanistan, is one of mistake after mistake, in not supporting the forces under Massoud’s control to fight the Taliban and al Qaida. The Clinton administration ignored the events in Afghanistan, made grave errors in not realizing the dangers to America posed by the Taliban madmen and in not heeding the constant warnings Massoud gave to American intelligence about al Qaida and its objectives.
Editor, today in Afghanistan NATO troops are fighting Taliban and al Qaida terrorists and the Afghan army is being re-organized and expanded (400,000 troops) to assist and then take over that struggle. The fact that this army is trained and led by Massoud’s lieutenants leads me to understand that the Taliban will be defeated and al Qaida will be destroyed. The Afghan army is the legacy of Ahmed Shah Massoud, a true revolutionary warrior, who, even though in 1992 he could have seized power at the head of victorious forces which ousted the Russians, instead turned that power over to civilian authorities and served as a Minister. Today, the new Afghan army is training under the ideas of Massoud and the men who serve in this army, all serve with his beliefs in their hearts and eventual victory against the Taliban in their minds for a lasting peace which Massoud always fought for.
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr)
