After Masood Chapter 1: Prologue (by Amrulla Saleh)

Published in 2016, after Ahmed Shah Masood's longtime aide Amrula Saleh, who later served as security minister, minister of the interior and vice president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. From the perspective of an insider in the Northern Alliance Bureau, the author records in more detail the process and reasons for the gradual disintegration of the Northern Alliance after Masood's death in 2001. At a time when the Taliban once again seized power by force and the Resistance Front, led by the son of Massoud, who Salish had joined, was at a low ebb, it was specially sorted out for the reading and reference of friends who are interested in this period of history. After all, all history is contemporary history.

Disclaimer: This translation is for informational purposes only and I do not assume any responsibility for translation errors, factual errors and positions and opinions that appear therein.

The Art of Intelligence is the title of a newly published book by Hank Crumpton, a senior U.S. intelligence officer. In the book he writes about a meeting with Ahmad Shah Massoud, where I was the translator. He had a lot of ink on Ahmed Shah Masood's words, so I wanted to help. If I had written these before, it might have been considered a theoretical fabrication rather than a fact that actually happened.

From a military and political point of view, what exactly is Ahmed Shah Al-Masood's grand blueprint?

Foreign journalists, intelligence agencies, and domestic elites have repeatedly asked him: Has your enemy occupied most of Afghanistan? They have commercial ports, with the support of Pakistan and the Arab world. And you're in a very disadvantaged geographical location, lacking the financial resources to even be self-sufficient. Limited external assistance is not enough to bring about a change in the situation. Some very close allies have left you and the area you rule, and with such a serious economic dilemma, how can you believe that you can get out of this situation and even achieve military victory? And what is the political solution you endorse?

Massoud follows one of the oldest rules of war— the mythical military genius of ancient China, Sun Tzu, said: Know thyself and know the other, and never lose a battle. Ahmad Shah Massoud knew his enemies very well— though perhaps he did not follow the same principles to identify his friends, as evidenced by their later actions.

Ahmed Shah Al-Masood argues that the Taliban's scorched-earth policy north of Kabul, the massacres in Akaulang, the destruction of Bamiyan Buddha statues, the massacres in Mazar-e-Sharif and the open discrimination against urban people in Kabul — none of which are empty-handed — have not been able to enter the hearts of the people after these events. He believed that popular uprisings against prejudice, discrimination, lack of social security, hegemony, medieval behavior and Taliban oppression were inevitable and, above all, against the presence of the Pakistani army and the Arabs. He believes he has survived the most difficult period — 1996-1998 — and is now working towards creating a military standoff.

And political preparation creates a military confrontation. In 1998, Massoud established a political structure called the National Islamic United Front to Save Afghanistan. Although the area it actually controls is limited to a few, it represents the whole of Afghanistan from an ethnic and tribal point of view. Pakistanis, out of hostility and hypocrisy, call it the Northern Alliance — a narrower term.

Ahmad Shah Masood referred to the Suf Valley, south of Gul, the Faryab Mountains, the Noor Valley in Nangarhar, western Nuristan and some areas of Kunar (where the war had actually begun) as "islands of resistance" and believed that the dispersal of limited human and material resources to these areas was a big problem for the Taliban. These "islands" prevent the enemy from concentrating on one point and disperse the enemy in terms of military, strategic, administrative, and logistical support through erosion warfare. According to Ahmad Shah Massoud, over time and the spread of erosion wars, these "islands" will eventually become interconnected.

Not many people on these "islands" are really well trained in the military, and the backbone of the resistance is the people. In other words, popular resistance challenges the Taliban not only militarily, but also ideologically. The Taliban's ideas are no longer accepted by the people. According to data now released by the CIA, the Taliban are five times more powerful and cost ten to fifteen times more than the fighting forces under Ahmad Shah Massoud, that is, the total number of resistance troops on the territory north of Kabul is less than 25,000, while the Taliban's front-line and reserve forces are more than 100,000.

In addition to strengthening the resistance island and consolidating the northeast base north of Kabul and Panjshir, another key part of Ahmed Shah Masood's military plan was the construction of small but well-equipped camps. Military training in Tahar province has begun, and the first tanks and equipment purchased from Russia have arrived in the region. With the escalation of the fighting in the Resistance Islands and the Central Army's offensive plans, the Taliban will first lose northern Afghanistan, which will make the Resistance Front economically better and open up supply routes.

According to Ahmed Shah Al-Masood, with the liberation of northern Afghanistan as a whole, it will become the main base for resistance movements, and parts of southern Afghanistan will begin an aggressive war against the Taliban. This is not just a guess, but has become a reality: some southern Afghan leaders are involved in resistance. Under this strategy, northern Afghanistan will be completely liberated from the Taliban, followed by the expansion of resistance islands in the south and east. As money was poured into the war, Pakistanis would eventually be forced to abandon and accept a political solution. He summed up all of his plans in two sentences, saying that to solve the Afghan problem at its roots, he must first pressure Pakistan to abandon its support for the Taliban and al-Qaida, and secondly, let the Afghan people resist against the Taliban and the terrorism they support.

After so many years and hundreds of millions of dollars, the only legacy of the heroes who have truly stabilized Afghanistan is to strengthen the Afghan people and put pressure on Pakistan.

Massoud believes that the continued military pressure on the Taliban, constantly liberating areas from their clutches, may force them to negotiate. Negotiations must revolve around three core principles: respect for the diversity and pluralism of Afghan social structures, United Nations-supervised elections, full national disarmament and the establishment of a genuine national army.

Ahmad Shah Massoud explained to Hank Crumpton that we are not fighting for power, we are fighting for the Afghan people to be able to take charge of their own destiny. If in the process we need to accept the Taliban, it is no problem, it is our own will, but we will never accept a government that has been imposed on our people by force, some rulers who call themselves emirs who do not know where they come from. We will continue to resist, and we are confident that we will eventually win because this war has the support of the people.

He added at the end of the conversation that the Afghan people had stood on the international front against the Soviet aggressors and were eventually forgotten by the world. Today, Afghans live in poverty and misery, lack of social security, education and livelihoods, and countless people are displaced. The world has a moral obligation to help the Afghan people, not to stay away.

"I have a mission from the U.S. government, specifically from the CIA, to talk to you about al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden," Hank Cramton said. The group was involved in attacks on our embassies in East Africa and our warships in Yemeni waters. Al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden intend to continue planning to threaten U.S. interests and attack us or our allies. You have influence in Afghanistan, and you are de facto at war with this organization. We want you to share with us the information you have so that we can learn about al-Qaida and prevent its plans to attack the United States further, or to capture os-im bin Laden based on that information. “

Masood asked a very sharp question, and he smiled and asked Hank, "Is your whole plan against al-Qaida or all of Afghanistan?" ”

Hank replied frankly and honestly: "We only have plans against al-Qaida, nothing more." (The Art of Intelligence, p. 145 describes this dialogue*Note 1))

Massoud introduced al-Qaida and said the U.S. greatly underestimated the threat of the network: "You think Pakistan is your ally, and Pakistan is the main supporter of al-Qaida and the Taliban." Afghanistan fought with you against the Soviet Union, but now it is in isolation and poverty. Even now, as the world's largest military and economic power, your plans are very specific and small. We are fighting them anyway, but we are fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda under Pakistani influence. Al-Qaida itself is not a priority for us. They are only part of the problem, not the whole problem. “

Massoud continued his remarks, saying: "After the end of the Cold War, you have achieved great things. Economically, the largest economy in the world is the United States. Military spending in the United States and Western Europe is low. You have reduced the number of troops and no longer have to go on a long race with the Soviets. But the Russians have a great strategic advantage, that is, against religiously armed extremists in the United States, and this war will be very, very long. In this war, you may have had many allies in the Islamic world, but most of your allies are technocrats, shouting nationalist and anti-corruption slogans, politicians who have no strong foundation in society. Our image in people's minds is more credible, and despite the different beliefs within the Taliban, we believe that Al Qaeda and Pakistani extremism pose a threat to Afghanistan and the world. If the world supports resistance in Afghanistan, perhaps victory will come cheaper and easier. If one day, we are gone, and there is no resistance in Afghanistan, you will realize how terrible this enemy really is, and they will bring you endless troubles and problems. “

(To be continued)

Note 1: The Art of Intelligence has been introduced into China, and the Chinese edition of the book is titled "National Threat", which is near page 137 of the Chinese edition.