On 30th August 2021, the last US soldier boarded a plane to leave Afghanistan, marking the end of the longest war in US history. A war that lasted 20 years came to a chaotic and uncertain conclusion, with the withdrawal of the US soldiers and Taliban taking over Kabul, leaving the fate of millions of people in the hands of a terrorist group who will now “govern” the country.
It took four US presidents, the death of tens of thousands of people, trillions of dollars and yet both the US and Afghanistan failed to retain the progress they made over the years, however, even if the withdrawal had gone smoothly, after losing this much, can we call it a win? As chaotic as the conclusion has been, the trajectory that led to this end was just as chaotic. The timeline created for this article will look at how each administration played a role in what has been happening in Afghanistan over the past two decades.
The two main aspects led to the attack, and consequently the war. First, by the year 2000, Osama Bin Laden was recognized as an international terrorist, widely believed to be cultivating a base in Afghanistan. And the assassination of Ahmad Shah Masood, commander of The Northern Alliance, an anti-Taliban coalition. Experts believe his assassination ensure Bin Laden’s protection by the Taliban after the attack.
What led to the US invasion of Afghanistan? (The Bush Administration, 2001-2009)
On September 11th, Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial planes, crashing them into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington D.C and a fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. The attack was one of the deadliest in US history which led to this war. Weeks after the attack, President Bush announced that the Taliban had refused to hand over the Al-Qaeda leaders who planned the attack.
It took the US Congress a week to authorize the war, but it was not until October 7th that the US military, with British support, began the bombing campaign against the Taliban forces marking the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom. During the second week of bombings, the Taliban offered to negotiate and asked for evidence of Bin Laden’s guilt and showed a willingness to hand him over to a third country, urging the US to stop the bombing but this was rejected by Bush at the time.
In December, the Taliban rule came to an end, and Hamid Karzi, royalist and ethnic Pashtun was sworn in as the leader of the new interim government of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Bin Laden escaped to Pakistan, which the US did not pursue; the country became a haven for the Taliban who over the years kept crossing the border to attack the US and Afghan forces.
By 2003, ‘major combat’ was over, and the US along with NATO focused on rebuilding Afghanistan, which was ravaged by the previous wars. They established a western-style democracy, constructed new schools, and hospitals, also urging women to pursue education and join the workforce, as they were not allowed to under the Taliban’s rule. At the beginning of 2004, a new constitution was written, and by the end of the year first presidential elections were held in the country, followed by parliamentary elections in 2005.
In July 2006, the violence intensified in the southern part of the country with more suicide attacks. Subsequently, in May 2007, the Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah was killed in a joint effort by the US, Afghan, and NATO.
Death of Bin Laden, plans for withdrawal, and abandonment of said plans (The Obama Administration, 2009-2017)
In February 2009, President Obama announced his plans to send 17,000 troops to Afghanistan in addition to the existing 37,000 troops as of January 2009. As a part of a new strategy, outlined “to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its safe havens in Pakistan, and to prevent their return to Pakistan or Afghanistan.”. They also increased aid to Pakistan and deployed additional 4,000 troops to train Afghan forces. This was welcomed by then-President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.
Furthermore, Obama commits an additional 30,000 troops, in addition to the existing 68,000 in place by the end of 2009, citing the link between the US’s national interests and the success of the Afghan war effort. In November 2010, NATO members signed a declaration to hand over the full responsibility of Afghanistan’s security to Afghan forces by the end of 2014. The transition started in 2011, with local security taking over some stable provinces and cities.
On 1st May 2011, Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, responsible for the 9/11 attacks was killed by the US forces in Pakistan.
Subsequently, due to pressure from the lawmakers of his own party and disapproval from the American people, President Obama reduced a sizable amount of US forces in Afghanistan. October 2011 marked the first decade of the war, with 100,000 troops still in Afghanistan, goals uncertain, 1,800 US troop casualties and $444 billion spent. And while the 2014 plan of withdrawal was in motion, there was serious doubt about the Afghan government’s capacity to secure the country.
In 2012, the Taliban cancelled the peace talks with the US for reneging on promises to take meaningful steps towards a prisoner swap. Furthermore, the tension between the people of Afghanistan and the US troops flared up, as the troops accidentally burnt Qurans and murdered at least 16 Afghan villagers. Thereafter, the Afghan president demanded that the troops be confined to their bases. In the following year, the Afghan army took over the military operations from NATO forces.
In 2014, with the war at a stalemate, the administration made a new timeline: to withdraw most US forces by 2016. In December 2014, NATO officially ended the combat missions and the US led forces stayed to advise Afghan forces. At the end of the following year, President Obama abandoned the plan to withdraw the US troops and left 5,500 troops in the country when he left office in 2017.
Violence escalates, attacks continue, and the deal is made (The Trump Administration, 2017-2021)
In April 2017, the newly elected President Trump ordered an attack on a suspected cave complex with Islamic State militants. Furthermore, discussed the possibility of adding more troops in addition to the 9,000 troops present in the region. At the time, Taliban was stronger than ever, which led to increase in suicide bombings and control or contesting for one-third of the country; US Marines were dispatched to counter this. In August, Trump, contrary to his predecessor, prolonged the war, even though his original intent was to withdraw. He continued the US’s involvement in Afghanistan to prevent the emergence of “a vacuum for terrorists”.
In 2018, the Taliban launched major attacks in the capital, killing more than 115 civilians. The attacks were in retaliation to the administration’s plan to deploy more troops in rural areas, air strikes against the opium labs to cut their finances, and cutting off the assistance to Pakistan for harbouring the Taliban militants.
By February 2019, US-Taliban peace talks progressed, where Taliban in exchange for the US’s withdrawal pledged to block international terrorists from operating in Afghanistan. However, in September, Trump called off the peace talks after a US soldier and 11 others were killed in a Taliban attack.
The deal was signed in February 2020 with the initial terms but the deal did not call for an immediate cease-fire. Several days after the signing, Taliban attacks continued, and the US responded with air strikes. In September 2020, Intra-Afghan talks began but were delayed due to the prisoner swap following the US-Taliban deal of releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government. Lastly, in November 2020, days before Biden’s inauguration, the US announced plans to reduce their troop size to 2,500 by January.
Chaotic withdrawal and its repercussions (The Biden Administration 2021)
In April 2021, President Biden, the fourth president during the war, announced complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by 9/11, the efforts for which began in May. The turning point was in August when Taliban forces between 6th to 15th August started occupying provinces, eventually reaching Kabul on 15th August. President Ashraf Ghani fled to the UAE and thousands of citizens were rushed to the airport by the US embassy for evacuation.
Biden faced scrutiny for the Taliban’s swift return to power and sent 6,000 troops for assistance with the evacuation; he was adamant about not passing this war to another president. He acknowledged that the withdrawal was “messy” while blaming the Afghan forces’ inability to counterattack. On August 26,,there were two suicide bombings outside the Kabul airport by ISIS-K, where at least 169 Afghan civilians and 13 US service members were killed. This did not stop the US’s withdrawal, but Biden vowed to retaliate to this attack.
In the last couple of months, we have learned a lot more about what happened during this 20- year war. The costs of this war, both human and financial, have already affected the current generation and will affect future generations in the years to come. However, this war was fought for the people, whose stories of loss become just another statistic. We often forget to acknowledge how this must have affected the lives and livelihoods of an average citizen in Afghanistan.
The Washington Post’s investigation also sent shockwaves with the revelation that for years different administrations misled the American people to believe that their plan was working and everything was going well in Afghanistan, whereas several US military personnel admitted they did not know what was happening, or what exactly they were doing there.
The war-torn country that received some relief from the Taliban’s absence is now back in their clutches, with an uncertain future ahead of them.
References:
“Timeline: U.S. War in Afghanistan.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/timeline/us-war-afghanistan.
Desk, News. “A Historical Timeline of Afghanistan.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 4 May 2011, www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/asia-jan-june11-timeline-afghanistan.
Crawford, Neta C. “Calculating the Costs of the Afghanistan War in LIVES, Dollars and Years.” The Conversation, 2 Sept. 2021, theconversation.com/calculating-the-costs-of-the-afghanistan-war-in-lives-dollars-and-years-164588.
Zucchino, David. “The U.S. War in Afghanistan: How It Started, and How It Ended.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Apr. 2021, www.nytimes.com/article/afghanistan-war-us.html.
team, Reality Check. “Afghanistan: What Has the Conflict Cost the US and Its Allies?” BBC News, BBC, 3 Sept. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-47391821.
Haddad, Mohammed. “Afghanistan: Visualising the Impact of 20 Years of War.” Visualising the Impact of 20 Years of War | Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera, 19 Aug. 2021, interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2021/afghanistan-visualising-impact-of-war/index.html.
Knickmeyer, Ellen. “Costs of the Afghanistan War, in Lives and Dollars.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 17 Aug. 2021, apnews.com/article/middle east-business-afghanistan-43d8f53b35e80ec18c130cd683e1a38f.
Whitlock, Craig. “Confidential Documents REVEAL U.S. Officials Failed to Tell the Truth about the War in Afghanistan.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Dec. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/afghanistan-papers/afghanistan-war-confidential-documents/.
History.com Editors. “Afghanistan War.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 20 Aug. 2021, www.history.com/topics/21st-century/afghanistan-war.
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