[warsaw44]

I remember Massoud. I had studied Afghanistan all during my HS years when the Soviets were in there. Before 911 I found as many articles about the Taliban and Afghanistan as I could. Usually it was only little snipits in the newspaper about the Taliban's victories spreading throughout the country. By the time 9-11 happened Massoud and what was left of the resistance to the Taliban were really up against it. They held a small section of the country and expected a massive strike by the Taliban to finish them off.
If I remember correctly, the idea was to kill off Massoud, which was a huge blow to the moral and leadership of the NA and then strike the remaining area of Afghanistan.

[hegemony]

That's what I remember about the NA. And then a deal was struck between the Taliban and Usama- if Usama wanted protection from the terrorist attack he'd have to hand the Taliban Massoud's head first.

It all made me remember staying up night after night after 9-11 until the wee hours while the Taliban did those idiotic press conferences.

[KC Burke]

We had a thread about bin Laden's assasination of Moussad and the subsiequent appointment of him as a Taliban "Minister of Defense." It was in the three days prior to 9/11 and my memory of it that morning was spooky. It was like remembering that the forewarning was there for those that could decifer it.

I don't have it bookmarked, but someone probably does and can post a link.