The Border Between Afghanistan And Pakistan

Theoretically, it holds that the United States (US) invaded Afghanistan as a self-defense strategy following the 9/11 attacks. Practically, however, as US foreign policy is about conquest, self-protection and resource-extraction, it seeks strategic dominance of geographical space to sustain its global relevance. The rationality of the US suggests the need to continuously accumulate capital, resources and military proficiency to ensure autonomy. Therefore, a pragmatic reading into the motivation behind the invasion of Afghanistan negates the self-defense theory. Rather, the shifting coordinates of power within central and southern Asia crafted the perfect criteria for US intervention. This work explores the motivations and systemic cover-ups designed by the Bush administration in ordering military troops into Afghanistan in 2001. It will hold that this invasion was not just a War on Terror, but rather a tactic to ensure US prevalence within the region, and henceforth, the rest of the world. Thus, why did the US invade Afghanistan?

For over 2 centuries, Afghanistan has known virtually no time without war. Beginning around 326 B.C. with the conquests of Alexander the Great, to the Persians, British, Russians and most recently, America and our NATO allies, Afghanistan has been cultivated into the country that it is today through a trial by fire. Regardless of this relentless onslaught of foreign military power, the Afghan people have tirelessly defended their homeland with no outside power ever being able to subdue them completely. Following the withdrawal of the Soviet Union in 1989, the country fell into civil war, torn even further apart by fiercely dedicated tribal warlords. This power vacuum led to the rise of a group called the Taliban. Led by a one eyed man

The war in Afghanistan which has become the longest war in American history has also become one of the most expensive war in history behind the war in Iraq, which justifies the idea that the United States is unable to manage their expenses and resources in times of war. The war which has lasted for thirteen years along with two years of soldiers still stationed in Afghanistan has caused America to invest a lot into the war against terror. The cost of the Afghanistan war alone has reached almost 1 trillion dollars and counting. The Money has been used for military defense, medical aid, reconstruction, and post war relief (PBS). All of these expenses are from tax payer’s dollars and money that was borrowed and comes with a hefty amount of interest, 124 billion dollars already paid (CNBC). A total of almost two trillion dollars was borrowed and was approximately 20% of the total United States debt (Global Research). During this war money was not being spent effectively, one example includes 6.5 million dollars on communication towers that were never used. For the reconstruction of Afghanistan approximately 104 billion dollars was used and a billions of dollars lost due to wasteful spending, fraud and corruption (MSNBC). Exact values cannot even be placed on where the money went exactly and how much was really lost because the costs were never detailed by the government and further exemplifies the idea that the United States is unable to manage their spending

For the past 13 years the United States has been involved in the Afghanistan war, and the reasons for the continuation of the Afghanistan war are very blurry. Not only are the reasons for the United States to fight the war blurry, but it seems the the cost vs. benefit of fighting the war do not equal. Only

When the soviet union invaded afghanistan the war lasted for 9 years 1979-1989. Between 1 million to 1.5 million people were killed in that war and millions of people when to a diffrent countries such as pakistan or iran as refugees. The United States supported Afghanistan by supplying arms to the Mujahadeen. Ronald Reagan sent billions of dollars to the Mujahadeen so he can help Jihad against the Soviet Union. “Reagan believed this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible. Reagan deployed CIA special activities division paramilitary officers to train, equip and lend the Mujahideen battalion against the Soviet army”. Reagan’s objective was winning the Cold War and the rollback of communism. The United States also offered financial and

Afghanistan is a country with extreme climate, in the summer, temperatures rises at 50º c and there are also huge dust storms, this wasn’t an easy war to fight. The United States, Canada,

The situation in Afghanistan actually began in 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded their country. The United States funded money to the "mujahedin," or holy warriors, in the name of stopping communism. From this support, Afghanistan was able to defeat the Soviet Union in 1989. Yet the country became very unstable after the war. Political power was fluctuating often and leaders came in and out of power rapidly. Farmers resorted to growing many drugs such as poppies and marijuana and sold them around the globe. Cities were annihilated. Over five million Afghanis fled to other countries in search of a better life. When the Afghanis turned to the United States for help in rebuilding our country, we refused. This caused great anger amongst the Afghani people directed toward the United States. This also lead to Mullah Mohammod Omar, the current leader of Afghanistan, to form a ground of men to "rebuild" his country. They are now known as the Taliban. Omar's personal description is, "A simple band of dedicated youths determined to establish the laws of God on

Lastly, Afghanistan has been seen as the incubator for terrorism that has reached across the world bringing death and destruction, but lets not forget the financial impacts that each terrorist attack takes on the free market.

The United States had to attempt to cooperate with the Afghan government in some way in order to do what they needed to do to win the war, but nothing can possibly be accomplished if the Afghan government is too corrupt to be of any help possible. To start, the watchdog agency found that “The Afghan attorney general[, whose name is not known,] refused to enforce or continue investigating an enormous corruption scandal at the country’s biggest bank” (Bearak 2). This is technically proof that the practices of the Afghan government are pretty much corrupt because not even the attorney general is not willing to further examine a case that is centered around corruption occurring in their own country. Moving on, more evidence of corruption can be seen in the Afghan police forces. According to frontline Coalition troops, “local police in Afghanistan have earned a justified reputation […] as unreliable, underpaid, corrupt, incompetent, lazy, sometimes treacherous, sometimes brave, dope-smoking pederasts” (Foreman 34). This is essentially why Afghanistan must use their military instead of their police forces. The police forces are too unreliable and corrupt to protect their own country. This is due to the corrupt government not paying them enough money, and a corrupt government is one that is a non-cooperative one. Finally, the 2012 SIGAR report shows even more evidence of corruption in the Afghan government. The report showed “that the Taliban remain resilient, that widespread corruption continues to weaken the central Afghan government and that Pakistan persists in providing critical support to the insurgency” (Bumiller 1). Basically, the Afghan government is so corrupt that nothing can be done, neither by themselves nor by the

The United States border with Mexico is a controversial topic that has been the subject of debate recently. It is without question a problem that needs to be fixed. Currently most policies are focused on the manpower, infrastructure, and security of the border itself. However the border security is changed there will always be a demand for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers to cross the border into America. That why we should try to disrupt that demand by legalizing marijuana in the United States, put more resources into fighting cartels, and invest into the Mexican economy. These are the first steps to regaining border security to both countries.

The War in Afghanistan has been an all consuming conflict for the US government since we started to launch air strikes on October 7, 2001. This is a conflict that’s been brewing since before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. This war has the continuation of past conflicts in it, conflicts that can be connected a good deal to the interference of other large powers, such as the USSR. From keeping an eye on the oil reserves, pressuring Iran, and keeping Pakistan stable, our interests and motives for occupying Afghanistan are undeniably laced with many ulterior motives, providing us with the issue of unfavorable opinion and our interests being the source of terrorist attacks. Afghanistan is a country that has been plagued with

The Afghanistan War has brought many other historic events, including the defeat of the Taliban, and the killing of Osama bin Laden. The Afghanistan War has altered the lives of millions, including those in Afghanistan. The war brought a new government and rid the country of the corrupted government. However great these victories were, there were various drawbacks as a result of the war. The U.S. lost millions of lives and millions of dollars. The U.S. has been driven into debt but these aren’t the only consequences faced by the U.S. The United States has immensely been affected both socially and economically. The United States has suffered from the political consequences the Afghanistan War has brought.

Just as civil conflict led to international conflict, international conflict lead to additional threats from other countries. Although GB only became involved with Afghanistan to prevent Russia from invading, within two centuries their involvement became futile. In 1979, Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Even after a long period of independence in Afghanistan, Afghan troops were unable to defeat the Soviets. The war was brutal, and lasted for an entire decade. Afghanistan remained a weak state from the Soviet-Afghan war, which made them susceptible to intervention from the U.S in 2001. Both events, the Soviet invasion and the arrival of American troops, can be traced back to the border. The border led to complex issues which occurred in quick succession, therefore Afghanistan and Pakistan had to pay attention to the issues that were right in front of them, because they were so apparent and pressing. However, as Af and Pak were distracted, more powerful countries like America and Russia were able to invade. It was an awareness of surrounding political climates that kept Russia and GB out of Afghanistan during the first Anglo-Afghan war, but with their own borders and issues to worry about Af and Pak paid no attention to other

The war in Afghanistan started was a direct response to the 9/11 attacks. This deadly terrorist acts killed thousands of American citizens. After the attack president bush made it clear that whoever is responsible for this horrendous act of violence will pay and will be brought to justice. After the American intelligence agencies found that Al- Qaeda was responsible for the 9/11 attacks president bush gave the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan an ultimatum for harboring al-Qaeda and their leader which says hand over the terrorist that are responsible for the attacks or share their fate. The Taliban leadership requested the American government to provide any avoidance proving that Osama bin-Laden was behind the 9/11 attacks before they hand him over to the American government. The Bush administration said that the Taliban should hand over Osama bin-laden without any conditions or suffer the same consequences as Al-Qaeda. Less than a month after the 9/11 attacks the war began. The war in Afghanistan was going on for more than a decade and there is no end in sight. The war costs the U.S more than a trillion dollars which is having a negative effect on the economy, with all the money and resources that were poured into Afghanistan, the lives people in Afghanistan didn’t improve instead it only got worse.

We lost lives, our economy is a mess, and no foreign investor is willing to invest in Pakistan. No sporting events take place any more and are shifted to other places due to security concerns. The tourism industry is as good as a rotten egg is for making an omelet. People are scared to leave their houses.