US Military and the War in Afghanistan

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

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

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

It seems that War has found a home in Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan have

Why do you think, apart from physical costs or, someone would remain in Afghanistan as it seems the majority of the population has?

The year is 2001. Troops are just being deployed to Afghanistan War. American troops are on foreign soil for the first time in decades. Soldiers say goodbye to their families, thinking they’ll be back within a few years. President Bush is confident the United States will win and will achieve their primary goal of bringing the terrorists to justice within a few years. Average citizens go about their day, completely unaware of the fact that their lives too will change after this war. Little does anyone know that the troops will be gone for at least a decade, the war will carry on for over a decade, the country will have an financial crisis, and this war will become one of the most scorned wars in U.S. history.

The events of September 11, 2001 will have forever changed the American military. The campaign to follow would have the US Military fighting forces in two completely different environments. In Iraq, the battles would be primarily fought in a close-quarters urban environment. The Afghanistan Campaign, formally named Operation Enduring Freedom, would be fought in a drastically different environment. Both campaigns would be fought against an insurgent force as opposed to a uniformed army the United States military was accustomed to in previous wars. The Afghanistan theater of operation would present an enemy in an unforgiving terrain and a significantly long history of war fighting. This new enemy combined with

The Counter Insurgency operations in Vietnam have taught the U.S. a lot that can be applied to Afghanistan. According to Phillips (2015) “Although our understanding and steadfast support can make a significant difference, ultimate success depends on

The current problem that is occurring in Afghanistan is the fact that American soldiers are over at Afghanistan right now. After the 9/11 attack, President George W. Bush puts together a plan to attack Afghanistan. America sends over a warning, to either turn over Osama bin Laden, the man in charge of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, or we 'll bomb you. After Afghanistan refused to turn him over, due to lack of evidence that he was in charge of the 9/11 attacks, America, with the help of it’s allies, countries like the United Kingdom and the Northern Alliance, bombed Afghanistan. Through all of this madness, Osama bin Laden escaped. After all the stuff that just happened in Afghanistan, President George W. Bush called for America to “reconstruct Afghanistan”. This would include going over there, building a new government, and helping the people of Afghanistan to live a nonviolent life. After a decade of America being in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden being killed, and two new presidents in Afghanistan, we are left with a big problem, American soldiers are still in Afghanistan, and we have no idea when they will be able to come back. We can not just take some helicopters, fly over to Afghanistan, pick up our troops, and fly back to America. The reason why we can’t is because Afghanistan’s government is too unstable. Another problem with American troops being stuck in Afghanistan are that the Taliban

The U.S. War in Afghanistan is the longest war in U.S. history. After the September 11 attacks in New York, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan followed, supported by a collation of all NATO members and other countries, the war’s fundamental goals were clear, with the primary objective of dismantling the Taliban government, bring Osama bin Laden to justice, and attempt to curb the growth of terrorism (CITE). Now, 16 years later, the war calls for hot debates. Many argue about the status of the war, is it too long? Is it worth the cost of lives? In short, the US did achieve the fundamental goals of the war. But if the unpredicted length of the war and the astronomical cost of the war, both in money and lives were added into the deciding factor,

Beside the pride of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the United States of America Mr. Zalmay Khalillzad, I happen to be one of the most miserable sons of a bitch you can find on the face of the Earth. Of course not only according to His Honorable Pope Francis, but also millions of Americans, Afghans, Mexicans and over a billion and a half of human beings living around the world seeking Him as Muslims, including President of the United States of America, His Majesty, President Rouhani, President Abdullah Abdullah of Afghanistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. But for some unknown reason, I feel Prime Minister Modi, Camaron, Netanyahu and Trudeau are on the same page. Chancellor Merkel could not be more delightful, by knowing refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, Yemen Syria and others will stop arriving in Germany during my presidency. I told you I will make America great again, didn 't I? Although my ancestors arrived here on boats from Poland, but I was fortunate enough to be fed with a silver spoon and even inherited millions. Senator Rubio could inform you with the accurate numbers as you wish. With three wives and four or more bankruptcies, I still managed to build my empire as you can see. I owned pretty much anything as I wished, except for love, respect, behavior, look and being the President of any country. I chose your beloved nation of America. Pieces of paper with pictures of Queen Rania,

They invaded on the 27th of December, 1979, killing the Marxist head of state.They used as many as 100,000 troops for this invasion. The United States viewed this as a very disrespectful violation of international law, therefore taking the Soviet’s actions as a threat to their resources such as oil, vital sea lanes, etc. Because of this, in 1980, The United States and various other countries such as Egypt and Pakistan saw this as a great opportunity to prove to the Afghans that they are the “good” countries. Consequently, they decided to help them out. The countries (mainly the United States) provided aid for the Afghans in one of their lowest moments in all of history. They Afghans accepted their generous help and decided to join the cause. The Soviets viewed this alliance as the US just trying to strengthen their army (which it was) which was taken as an offensive gesture. Not everything went according to plan however, a plague of sickness swept through the lands of Afghanistan, once again giving the USSR the advantage point. As the Cold War continued, so did the age of decivilization. Although they did fall many times to the Soviets, the Afghans played a major role in helping the United States throughout the Cold

(Hood, 2005) discussed the Soviets Union invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S invasion. It is important to understand historical events to make meaning of things in the contemporary world. In December 1979, it was a great turning point in Afghanistan history when the national intensity level rose to important, at that time, the Soviet troops crossed the Afghan Muslims country at this point in time Afghanistan was suffering from a civil war. The people needed a change (revolution). Hafizullah Amin who studies at Columbia University in New York and prime minister at the time wanted a more western form of government and social construction for the Afghan people, while most Muslims leaders detest Amin ideology of introducing western way of life

Due to the fact that the united states are sending more and more troops into Afghanistan which will lead to more deaths in the end. In broad terms we are invading there country. Men in Afghanistan serve the Taliban to drive foreign troops out of Afghanistan and often because they see their family being bombed so they want to retaliate. A big issue is the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan because it is not regulated well. On the other hand India has influence with Afghanistan which seems to project an image of owning or taking over Pakistan. The elite in Pakistan is corrupt, due to the simple fact that they do not care no one and no solution to the problem as long as they make money in the end. An interested fact mentioned is that in WW2 50,000 was spent on each troop to go to war, in Iraq spent 500,000 on each troop, and in Afghanistan spent 800,000 on each troop due to the rugged and mountainous terrain. Afghanistan is very rural with lots of mountains making it hard for bases to receive supplies. The U.S. are also paying to build roads and wells within the parameter of the base, which in the end is not reconstructing Afghanistan, one of the reasons we went to war. The war has a big social cost behind it. It weakens our economy by having tax payers pay for war with no better outcome. They also wanted to improve the lives of the women by giving them the opportunity to schooling but in the end caused them to be abducted and even raped. The majority of what