Bernard-Henri Lévy

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Bernard-Henri Lévy and Ahmed Chah Massoud (1998)

A rare footage of Bernard-Henri Lévy and Commandant Massoud in 1998. In this historical meeting, Massoud is on the left of the screen, seated, facing front, his back slightly in front of the wall.

BHL was able to spend several days at that time alongside the legendary “Lion of Panshir”. From these shared moments arose a major report published in the newspaper Le Monde on October 13, 1998, which was then repeated by its author in “Reflections on war, evil and the end of history” (Editions Grasset).

On September 9, 2001, two days before the World Trade Center towers collapsed in New York City, Ahmad Chah Massoud was the victim of a suicide bombing in his stronghold in northeastern Afghanistan. Two bogus journalists, with Belgian passports and claiming to work for an Arab world news agency based in London, detonate their cameras as they interview the commander.

In February 2002, the President of the Republic, Jacques Chirac, and the Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, asked Bernard-Henri Lévy to go to Afghanistan. The United States and NATO countries began bombing the country in October 2001 after the September 11 attacks. Objective of BHL’s trip: “to assess the expectations and needs of the Afghan people”.