Who remembers the assassination of Ahmed Massoud?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud

<snip>
Massoud was the target of a successful suicide attack at Khwaja Bahauddin, Afghanistan on September 9, 2001. The attackers' names were alternately given as Dahmane Abd al-Sattar, husband of Malika El Aroud, and Bouraoui el-Ouaer; or 34-year-old Karim Touzani and 26-year-old Kacem Bakkali.<30> The attackers claimed to be Belgians originally from Morocco. However, their passports turned out to be stolen and their nationality was later determined to be Tunisian. The assassins claimed to want to interview Massoud and then, while asking Massoud questions, set off a bomb in the camera, killing Massoud.

The explosion also killed Mohammed Asim Suhail, a Northern Alliance official, while Mohammad Fahim Dashty and Massoud Khalili were injured. The assassins may have intended to attack several Northern Alliance council members simultaneously. Bouraoui was killed by the explosion and Dahmane was captured and shot while trying to escape. Massoud was rushed after the attack to the Indian Military hospital at Farkhor, Tajikistan, which is now Farkhor Air Base.

News of Massoud's death was reported almost immediately, appearing on the BBC, and in European and North American newspapers on September 10, 2001. However, the news was quickly overshadowed by the September 11, 2001 attacks the following day, which appeared to be the terrorist attack that Massoud had warned against in his speech to the European Parliament several months earlier.

The timing of the assassination, two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, is considered significant by commentators who believe Osama bin Laden ordered the assassination to help his Taliban protectors and ensure he would have their protection and co-operation in Afghanistan. The assassins are also reported to have shown support for bin Laden in their questioning of Massoud. The Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Mujahideen leader Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, an Afghan Wahhabi Islamist, have also been mentioned as possible organizers or collaborators of the Massoud assassins.<31> Massoud was a strong opponent of Pakistani involvement in Afghanistan. The assassins are said to have entered Northern Alliance territory under the auspices of the Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and had his assistance in bypassing "normal security procedures."<31>

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by our propaganda media...

He was the main opponent of bin Laden in Afghanistan. When he was assassinated, bin Laden felt secure to do whatever he wanted from his base. Just weeks or days before, Secretary of State Powell had offered the Taliban $49 million dollars for some type of pay-off. That too, was buried. It may have been for the proposed pipeline thru Afghanistan?

Yet, it seems the media wakes up one day 8 years later to report as new, events and stories well documented in that film and in independant media all along. It rankles big time...

It was touted for months in all the major news as a precursor to the 9/11 attacks, and it was well publicized when it happened. I remember reading about it in my office in Lower Manhattan on Monday, September 10, 2001. Since there had recently been a major National Geographic special on Massoud, it struck me right away.

between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. Since then, I have often wondered how much differently post-9/11 events in Afghanistan might have played out.

My understanding is that Massoud was well-liked, even adored, by many in Afghanistan, was an opponent of corruption and extremism, and somewhat "progressive" in his application of Islam (educating women and girls, etc.)

We'd find our original threads.

I kind of liked the guy. It seemed like he was fairly progressive. Of course, that may have just been TV propaganda but I seem to recall that he had a pretty enlightened view towards women, etc.

Killed two days before 9/11. Either by Taliban, ISI, CIA or more than one of the above.