11 years ago we had a warning but we ignored it.

On September 9 2001 General Massoud the arch enemy of the Taliban was killed by al Qeada operatives on the order of Mullah Omar.

It was the final warning of the upcoming attacks on 911.....

We ignored it.

General Massoud's Tomb in 2010

"Massoud is adamant that in Afghanistan women have suffered oppression for generations. He says that 'the cultural environment of the country suffocates women. But the Taliban exacerbate this with oppression.' His most ambitious project is to shatter this cultural prejudice and so give more space, freedom and equality to women -- they would have the same rights as men."
—Pepe Escobar,  in 'Massoud: From Warrior to Statesman'

Taliban fighters Kandahar  2010

"The CIA officers admired Massoud greatly. They saw him as a Che Guevara figure, a great actor on history's stage. Massoud was a poet, a military genius, a religious man, and a leader of enormous courage who defied death and accepted its inevitability, they thought.... In his house there were thousands of books: Persian poetry, histories of the Afghan war in multiple languages, biographies of other military and guerilla leaders. In their meetings Massoud wove sophisticated, measured references to Afghan history and global politics into his arguments. He was quiet, forceful, reserved, and full of dignity, but also light in spirit. The CIA team had gone into the Panshjir as unabashed admirers of Massoud. Now their convictions deepened...."
—Steve Coll, in "Ghost Wars"


We should ask honestly why did we ignore this advise and is anyone today saying the same words?

"Declassified Defense Intelligence Agency documents from November 2001 show that Massoud had gained "limited knowledge... regarding the intentions of [al-Qaeda] to perform a terrorist act against the US on a scale larger than the 1998 bombing of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania." 

They also point out that he warned about such attacks.

"In spring 2001, Ahmad Shah Massoud addressed the European Parliament in Brussels stating that behind the situation in Afghanistan there was the regime in Pakistan. He also stated his conviction that without the support of Pakistan, Osama Bin Laden and Saudi Arabia, the Taliban would not be able to sustain their military campaign for up to a year, also because the Afghan population was ready to rise against them. Addressing the United States specifically he issued the warning that should the U.S. not work for peace in Afghanistan and put pressure on Pakistan to cease their support to the Taliban, the problems of Afghanistan would soon become the problems of the U.S. and the world."

For many of us the result has been war.   

A war that has limited support as it was never "sold" properly and never explained properly.... but those who have been understand and know why.