|
|
Sebastian Junger
Under Fire
The journalist and Perfect Storm author was dying to profile Afghanistan's greatest warrior—and it nearly killed him. Listen.
UPDATE: Anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Shah Massoud was killed in Afghanistan on September 9, 2001, by two suicide bombers masquerading as Arab journalists. Originally published in March 2001 as a behind-the-scenes look at an Adventure magazine profile of Massoud, this Web page offers a rare look inside his operation.
"I'd always wanted to make the pilgrimage into Ahmad Shah Massoud's territory to do a profile of him," says Sebastian Junger. Last November ADVENTURE gave him his chance, dispatching Junger and photographer Reza to Afghanistan. The result is the article "The Lion in Winter"—and these online-only sound clips and photos.
Widely seen as a guerrilla genius—his country's Che Guevara, with charisma and beard to match—Massoud successfully played David to the Soviets' Goliath in the 1980s. It's a role he's reluctantly reprising today, only this time he's fighting the Taliban, the ironfisted Islamic extremists noted for stoning adulterers and nullifying women's rights.
 The Taliban now control all of Afghanistan but the far northeast—Massoud's stronghold. From his base of operations in the Panjshir Valley, the cornered "Lion of Panjshir" leads a ragtag alliance against the onslaught.
"Everything I'd heard made Massoud seem like an extraordinary man, not only a great fighter but a very fair-minded, educated, enlightened man," says Junger. To put the stories to the test, Junger descended into Massoud's mud-walled, kerosene-lit command centers, dodged Taliban shells, and forced himself to face the horrors of war.
—Ted Chamberlain
For the full story, read "The Lion in Winter" (preview) in the March/April 2001 issue of ADVENTURE.
Photographs by Reza
|
