BREAKFAST WITH MASSOUD

(Published by The Source, December 1 2001)

In 1998, I spent two months as a guest of "commander" Ahmad Shah Massoud in Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan. I was there as a mediator, and had a series of meetings with Massoud in order to understand his vision of a future Afghanistan. My last meeting with Massoud was at breakfast in his home.

In Afghanistan, meals are traditionally eaten on the floor, sitting cross-legged around a cloth that acts like a dining table. Massoud himself spread the cloth out and served the food. Spring air flowed into the room, and the morning sunlight splashed around us. Peering out the window, I saw almond trees in full bloom and heard birds chirping. I told Massoud he had a beautiful garden. He told me, "The Soviets destroyed most of the trees. We planted these after they left. When peace comes, we will develop electricity and reforest the mountainsides."

Massoud's vision for developing Panjshir Valley was revealing of the man. There was humility about him. He wore simple civilian clothes, talked politely, laughed a lot, and yet felt deeply for the Afghan people. I often saw him walk from the guest-house I was staying at to his office, with just a couple of companions, ignoring the pomp and display of other leaders. He was a national figure with a national vision, but he was also a "Panjshiri" with a vision for Panjshir and its local people.

Massoud's official title was "defense minister," but preferred the simple title of commander." He was the center of the alliance, and held the front line north of Kabul against the Taliban, who viewed Massoud as their last great obstacle for control of Afghanistan. Afghans called him the "Lion of Panjshir." Panjshir means five lions, so it translates as the lion of five lions. There is an old Afghan saying that anyone who wants to conquer Afghanistan should beware, because under every rock of every mountain lies a sleeping lion. When Massoud was fighting the Soviets, they said, "And the lion is Ahmand Shah Massoud."

Suicide bombers assassinated Massoud on September ninth, just two days before the attack on America. His assassins have been connected to bin Laden. This makes sense. Massoud was bin Laden's greatest enemy inside Afghanistan, and we can assume that bin Laden wanted to prevent America from having such a powerful ally. Massoud could thus be viewed as the first victim of the attack on America.

Although Massoud is dead, his ideas and image live on. In recent video shots and photos of North Alliance troops marching into Mazar e-Sharif and Kabul, soldiers have been seen parading with large photos of Massoud, as a national symbol. His vision is thus becoming increasingly relevant as the Northern Alliance takes control over Afghanistan, and efforts are made to form a new government

After our breakfast, Masood sat back and made a long presentation on his political vision for a future Afghanistan. Massoud wanted to develop a federal system in Afghanistan. "There has been too much oppression," he told me, "This has to change." Afghanistan has over thirty "administration" provinces. Massoud described to me in detail the division of Afghanistan into nine separate states that included a "federal" state around the capital, Kabul.

The history of Afghanistan is marked by the gradual development of central control by Kabul. Before the Soviet invasion, all government officials were appointed by the national government, leaving little room for local autonomy. This created a bottleneck through which all political power flowed, making it prone to power struggles, often between ethnic groups who felt oppressed. The Soviets and the Taliban took this to the extreme.

The essence of federalism is the separation of powers between the national government, and the local state governments, each governing within there own special area of competence. As the American Founding Fathers understood so well, all-powerful national governments tend to degenerate into tyranny. A federal system protects against this, and empowers local governments to decide on local issues. By protecting local authority while establishing national unity, a federal system in Afghanistan will provide the foundation for reconciliation among the many ethnic groups that make up the Afghan people.

Massoud blamed the many years of war mostly on foreign influence. There were the Soviets, of course, and then the Pakistanis who supported the Taliban, and most recently, the foreign terrorist network of al-Qaeda. Massoud told me with passion, "We must get rid of foreign influence, and find strength in ourselves." He welcomed foreign aid and advice, but not political interference.

The Northern Alliance has recently rejected Bonn, Germany, or any other location outside of Afghanistan, as a place to make final decisions on a future government. Such meetings are considered for "preliminary" discussions only. One reason is that it has the appearance of foreign influence. A related reason is that such decisions must have their roots in Afghan culture to have legitimacy. (Imagine if the American Constitutional Convention, where the U. S. Constitution was drafted, was held in Paris or London, instead of Philadelphia.)

Thus, the current plan is for a "transitional" government to be elected by a Loya Jirga (grand council), to be convened in Kabul. A Loya Jirga is basically an Afghan "electoral-college," consisting of a large number of various leaders and "respected" persons thought to represent the Afghan people.

In Massoud words, a transitional government must take Afghanistan from "rule of commanders to rule of civilians." It would collect all "heavy" weapons from commanders, form a council to draft a constitution, and prepare the country for the election of a new government. For the transitional government to reconcile people torn apart by twenty-three years of war, Massuod insisted that it must govern Afghanistan in the spirit of federalism. It must, he said, "cooperate" with local people, not impose its rule by force, as did the Soviets and the Taliban.

Commander Massoud spent his entire life as a soldier, surrounded by death, destruction and military command. But the purpose of his fighting was to bring peace and reconciliation. At the end of our breakfast meeting, I acknowledged this. "Tashakor" (thank you) he said to me. "Tashakor!" I replied.

Roger L. Plunk is an international mediator and author of The Wandering Peacemaker.