Remembering the first victim of 9/11
And the importance of listening to those who know their country best
The first victim of September 11 actually lost his life on September 9 in northeastern Afghanistan. Earlier that year, he had tried to warn the world about the dangers of what was brewing in his country: terrorist plots by organizations like Al Qaeda, aided and abetted by the Taliban.
His name was Ahmad Shah Massoud, also known as the Lion of Panjshir, and he was a politician and military leader of the United Front, or what we knew as the Northern Alliance in the U.S. While he was a warlord, a concept that I’m still unpacking, he wanted to reform the country and believed in equality, particularly women’s rights.
He was killed after the two men posing as journalists detonated a suicide bomb at the beginning of what was supposed to be an interview. The men, who were later determined to be Al Qaeda operatives from Tunisia, had waited for three weeks to interview Massoud, who had been uncertain about whether he wanted to grant the interview at all.
Massoud was a threat to the Taliban’s authority over the country. Meanwhile Al Qaeda, looking to secure their use of Afghanistan as a base for their operations, wanted to ‘get in’ with the Taliban, so they offered to assassinate Massoud.
His son, Ahmad Massoud, is carrying on his legacy by leading the National Resistance Front (NRF), a movement to counter the Taliban and push for democratic elections in the country.
I recently attended a virtual panel hosted by the Hudson Institute where Ahmad Massoud and the NRF’s Head of Foreign Relations, Ali Maisam Nazary, spoke about the current state of Afghanistan, the increase in terrorist group activity, and the need to continue supporting the NRF in their goal of ousting the Taliban.
Unfortunately, the situation in Afghanistan is *pretty bad* on many levels, but particularly for terrorist activity. The irony is that, a few months after the initial U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the Taliban was essentially defeated. Fast forward to 2021, and the U.S.’s now-infamous withdrawal left a leadership vaccuum that was easily filled up by the Taliban. Two decades of war, one start and end point: the Taliban.
If you’re interested to learn more about Afghanistan or Ahmad Shah Massoud, here are some recommended books and podcast episodes:
In the Name of My Father by Ahmad Massoud
The Longest War by Peter Bergen
The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock
Afghanistan - The Rest is History (podcast)
Afghanistan - Conflicted (podcast)