Today marks the six-year anniversary of the assassination Ahmad Shah Massoud, killed by two Al Qaeda operatives posing as journalists just two days before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Massoud was a commander during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. After the Soviets left, Massoud was the long-standing leader of the opposition party to the ruling Taliban. He was forty-eight years old.

 Four months before 9/11, in April of 2001, Massoud was invited to address the European Parliament. He spoke at length of the dangers of Al Qaeda, specifically warning the west of a looming terrorist attack against the United States and Europe. He called upon President Bush for help. His warnings were ignored. 

The assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud is believed to have been part of Al Qaeda's 9/11 plot. Massoud was the Taliban's greatest opposition threat inside Afghanistan and likely to assist the U.S. military in hunting down Osama Bin Laden and overthrowing the Taliban in response to 9/11.  

(Photo left: Massoud addresses the European Parliament, April 2001. Photo credit: Robert Sanchez/Black Star. Photo right: Massoud's mausoleum in the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan. Photo credit: unknown)

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