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From the Editor

The spirit of Masoud lives on

by Judi McLeod

February 2, 2004

Some seven thousand miles away is a lonely grave on a hilltop in the Panjir Valley of afghanistan.

It is the grave of ahmad Shah Masoud, a genuine hero to those of many cultures, and forever the enemy to terrorist Osama bin Laden.

as a military commander, so legendary was his resistance to the Soviet occupation of afghanistan, ahmad Shah Masoud was dubbed for time immortal, "the Lion of the Panjir Valley".

The death of Masoud on September 10, 2001 was eclipsed by the world tragedy of the following day. But the death of this afghan hero is considered a precursor to the cataclysmic attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

The leader of the Northern alliance, who had put the run to the once most fearful force on earth, the Red army, was a living threat to the monster known as bin Laden, according to the Russian Novosti news agency, only 10 days after the assassination of Masoud, the Taliban appointed bin Laden the military commander of their army.

The Lion of the Panjir Valley is lesser known for being largely responsible for keeping the Taleban from completely conquering afghanistan after the 1988 Soviet withdrawal.

His death, which came at the hands of al Qaeda operatives posing as news photographers, broke hearts far beyond the boundaries of afghanistan.

Masoud, who studied as an engineer and spoke French, was one of those heroes you found yourself rooting for from even thousands of miles away.

I had heard of the great commander while writing about the Soviet-afghan war as a Toronto Sun columnist. Some of the stories told to me by afghans who had actually fought beside him were to become indelible in my memory.

Drawing from his studies as an engineer, Masoud drew maps in the dust with a stick, strategizing battle lines for loyal troops that held the Soviets at bay.

Like most lone wolves, Masoud had his own style. He made the woolen pakoul, a sort of afghan woolen tam, world famous. Pictures of him usually show his pakoul worn at a rakish angle. But much more than a fierce commander, Masoud was a pro-democracy intellectual. With a penchant for poetry, he had a library of some 2,000 books.

according to Marcus Warren, a journalist for the only British newspaper in Northern afghanistan at the time of Masoud’s funeral, "the poise and dignity" of his 13-year-old son, ahmad, was "only one aspect of the ceremony."

"One of my father’s wishes was to be a martyr," ahmad told 24,000 mourners. "But this was not the right time for that to happen. He died too early."

at age 49, two arab suicide bombers, disguised as television reporters mortally wounded Masoud. The suicide bombers carried fraudulent passports. The world media has all but forgotten the death of both assassins, at different times and by different means.

Visitors to Masoud’s grave include Hamid Karzai, who came to pay his respects at the tomb in Saricha. Karzai praised Masoud’s contribution to the struggle against the Taliban, saying that without him and even the events of September 11, "I do not know whether we would have succeeded or not."

Masoud survived enemies all but unprecedented in strength, first the Soviet army, then the Taliban.

a legend forever, he survives bin Laden. For while the terrorist dare not step out of the shadows, the spirit of ahmad Shah Masoud has long since transcended the Panjir Valley.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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