The background of America's Longest War in Afghanistan

Saqib Manzoor

Local Reporter , Faisalabad

Here is we are telling about you the background of America's longest war in Afghanistan. US President Donald Trump had announced an abrupt end to ongoing peace talks with the Afghan Taliban when the Megawigs were released saying the parties were about to agree on a peace deal.

The fundamental question is, why has the United States been fighting in Afghanistan for the past 18 years, and what are the reasons why it does not even name the war?

The attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, killed nearly 3,000 people. The United States blamed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden for the attacks. At the time of the attacks, Osama bin Laden was in Afghanistan, where the Taliban rule. The Taliban refused to comply with the US demand for Osama's arrest and extradition to the United States, after which the US invaded Afghanistan.

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The Taliban had to retreat, but over time they regrouped and began raiding operations against foreign and Afghan security forces. During this period, troops from other countries also came to the aid of US forces.

From now on, the United States and its allies have been trying to break the Taliban's attacks.

Osama Bin Laden:-

On October 7, 2001, when the then US President George Bush ordered an airstrike in Afghanistan, he said, "We had no desire for this mission, but now we will fulfill it."

The operation was in response to the 9/11 attacks that killed 2977 people in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

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Citing airstrikes in Afghanistan, President Bush said, "Terrorist bases in Afghanistan have to be eradicated and the Taliban's military power crushed."

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Even after 18 years, it is difficult to say that the United States has succeeded in its goals. If peace talks are resumed successfully, the Taliban will have a fair share in the Afghan government.

The Taliban movement began in Kandahar, and in 1996 the government was ousted from the capital Kabul. Within two years they occupied most of the country. They introduced a strict system of law in the country, which included measures such as the death penalty.

Within two months, the US, coalition forces and the northern alliance of Afghan extremists abolished the Taliban regime, and the Taliban fighters hid in the country and Pakistan.

In 2004, the US pro-government was established in Kabul. But the Taliban's influence in the border areas adjoining Pakistan remained. The Taliban made millions of dollars from the drug, cockney industry, and taxes. As the Taliban's suicide attacks increased, it became increasingly difficult for foreign forces and their Afghan allies to confront them.

2014 was the Bloodiest Year:-

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It was difficult for NATO forces to remain in Afghanistan indefinitely, so they decided to leave, leaving the Afghan army and the Taliban in a state of war.

The Taliban were encouraged, and their attacks intensified. Last year, the BBC found that the Taliban were active in 70% of the country.
Where did the Taliban come from?
Civil war has been going on in Afghanistan for almost 20 years, even before the US invasion.

In 1979, the Soviet army entered Kabul to support and support the dictatorial government. It was resisted by what was called 'Afghan Jihad' and called 'Mujahideen' who took part in it. The Mujahideen had the support of the United States, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, and a few other countries.

In 1989, the Soviet army went out, but various factions of the militants engaged in war with each other. The civil war resulted in the Taliban movement.

He was an Afghan student studying in Pakistani madrassas who was participating in 'jihad' against the Soviet Army but was withdrawn from the war as a result of the mutual intrigues of the militants.

The mutual war, corruption, and unrest of the Mujahideen had made the people angry. In 1994, the Taliban decided to stand against crime and turmoil. Initially, they received public outcry. But according to their thinking, due to the strict rules and regulations of the Shariah, forcing men to have beards, banning women from tight curtains and restricting them to their homes, people began to differ in their cities.

Since the Taliban sheltered al-Qaeda, the United States pursued military action against the 9/11 attacks, which were supported by other countries as well as by the Northern Alliance.

Why did the war take so long?

There are several reasons for this. For example, fierce resistance from the Taliban, the influence of Afghan forces and governmental authority, and the lack of commitment by other countries to keep their troops in Afghanistan longer. Over the past 18 years, the Taliban has faced a backlash at several stages. In 2009, US President Barack Obama increased the number of US troops to one million in Afghanistan.

As a result, parts of southern Afghanistan fell out of the Taliban, but this did not last long.

The Taliban made new alignments, and when international forces began to withdraw, Afghan forces could not fight the Taliban alone. More difficult was the creation of the Afghan government, which was often paralyzed by tribal factions.

Neighboring Pakistan also Played a Role:-

There is no doubt that the Taliban has roots in Pakistan, and during the American occupation, they reorganized themselves there. But Pakistan has always denied allegations of helping the Taliban, although the US has been demanding Pakistan to take further action against them.

How did the Taliban maintain its power?
The Taliban's revenues are estimated to have reached $ 1.5 billion annually over the past decade. Some of this money came through drugs. Afghanistan is the most poppy producing country in the world, used in making opium heroin.

Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is under Taliban influence.

How expensive was the war?

The simple answer is more than the limit. It is difficult to say how many the number of Afghan security personnel killed in this is because the figures were never published. However, in January 2019, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that 45,000 Afghan security personnel had been killed since 2014.

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Since the US invasion in 2001, 3500 foreign troops, including 2300 Americans, have been killed. It is more difficult to estimate the casualties of Afghan citizens.

According to a UN report published in February 2019, 32,000 civilians have been killed. According to estimates from the Watson Institute at Brown University, 42,000 Taliban fighters have been killed.

The same institute says that since 2001, wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Syria have cost the United States $ 5.9 trillion. The United States still targets airstrikes to the Taliban. Donald Trump is the third US president to see this happen. But he wants to reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan ahead of the new elections in November 2020.

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After the withdrawal of international forces in 2014, the Taliban now occupy a larger part of the country. In Washington and other western countries, it is feared that the vacuum created in Afghanistan after the complete withdrawal of US forces will fill the forces that try to hit the West. But the most significant loss of this war is to the Afghan people.

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