Word: massoud
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...wants to avoid clashes with Iraqi forces under the control of the Iraqi Kurdish administration. But U.S. and Iraqi officials fear that Turkish forces, whatever their intention, could clash with Iraqi Kurdish forces, making the conflict difficult to contain. Turkey accuses Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish administration, led by Massoud Barzani, of sheltering the separatist guerrillas, and some see it as a hostile entity. Retired Turkish general Riza Kucukoglu told TIME: "The PKK is the enemy. But there are also the forces of Barzani, which have created a terrorist haven for them to operate in. Where do you draw this...
...government, called an emergency political summit. Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, one of the last prominent Sunni figures willing to be seen talking to the Shi'ite Maliki, was summoned. So was Kurdish President Jalal Talabani and Shi'ite Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi as well as Massoud Barzani, president of the northern Kurdish region...
...Sept. 9, 2001, assassination of Afghan rebel leader Ahmad Shah Massoud is a dark little corner on the early 21st century chessboard. Al-Qaeda's killing of the anti-Taliban commander is often said to have paved the way for 9/11: a pre-emptive elimination of a likely ally of the U.S., which was bound to invade Afghanistan in response to the attacks...
...beyond the tactical why, there is also a lesson in looking at how the man known as the Lion of Panjshir was taken out. The suicide bomber had come to Massoud's mountain headquarters posing as a television reporter, and his video camera was wired with explosives. The plotters' awareness that Massoud could be tempted by a broadcast opportunity required only a basic knowledge of his strategy. Like any military man hoping to transform his battlefield exploits into popular leadership, Massoud had to make his case publicly. This is the time-honored creation of the cult of the noble warrior...
Wedged on history's timeline between Caesar and Massoud is a figure who can stake a claim as the archetype of the modern military folk hero. Giuseppe Garibaldi, the 19th century Italian general who spent 12 years fighting for independence movements in Brazil and Uruguay before returning home to lead battles to unify Italy, was an international icon both during and after his lifetime. Though historians debate his tactical skills and political sense, few question his integrity, courage or charisma, which were chronicled for decades by writers from around the world. As such, Garibaldi remains a model that transcends time...