Did the Government Mislead the Public About the War in Afghanistan? The country is still grappling with more than 20 insurgent and terrorist groups. November 9, 2017, A Conversation With Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Watch more. February 27, 2020, Political Reform Urgently Needed in Afghanistan, Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Mohammad Qadam Shah Insurgent attacks and civilian casualties remained stubbornly high, while many of the Afghan military and police units taking over security duties appeared to be ill-prepared to hold off the Taliban. August 11, 2020, Strategies for Reforming Afghanistan's Illicit Networks, Harris Samad and Fatima Salman Carnegie Endowment for International Peace With fewer than 10,000 US troops left in in Afghanistan, mostly working as trainers, the Afghanistan war continues to drag on into its 16th consecutive year, with no end in sight. November 21, 2017, Afghanistan in 2017: A Survey of the Afghan People, The Asia Foundation Prior to a Communist coup in 1978, Afghanistan had many problems but remained generally peaceful for about five decades under King Mohammad Zahir Shah and President Mohammad Daoud Khan. July 15, 2020, How Russia Built a Channel to the Taliban, Once an Enemy, Mujib Mashal and Michael Schwirtz New Yorker Now he says it wasn't worth it Australia’s longest war. Project Syndicate Critics later questioned why the U.S. military had allowed Afghan forces to lead the assault on the cave complex at Tora Bora rather than doing it themselves. The war, currently in its 10th year, is now a multi-faceted joint, civil-military, combined July 16, 2020, The False Promise of Peace in Afghanistan, Seth G. Jones The Taliban’s resurgence corresponded with a rise in anti-American and anti-Western sentiment among Afghans. Washington Post November 2013. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, The September 11 attacks and the U.S.-British invasion, https://www.britannica.com/event/Afghanistan-War, Council on Foreign Relations - U.S. War in Afghanistan, The Canadian Encyclopedia - War in Afghanistan, Afghanistan: U.S. Special Forces and Northern Alliance, Kandahar, Afghanistan: Stephen Harper visiting troops, Orūzgān province, Afghanistan: eradication sweep of opium poppies. CFR Backgrounder, Lessons From Iraq and Afghanistan: Facing Future Defense Challenges, Janine Davidson and Irina Faskianos November 1, 2020, Afghanistan: The Peace Negotiations Have Become an Extension of War by Other Means, Anthony H. Cordesman July 9, 2020, Seth G. Jones March 21, 2018, U.S. CFR Blog, “Asia Unbound” October 23, 2018, Clayton Thomas CFR Article Brookings Institution The plot had been hatched by al-Qaeda, and some of the 19 hijackers had trained in Afghanistan. CFR In Brief Foreign Policy June 18, 2018, A Grass-Roots Afghan Peace Movement Grows, Step by Step, Mujib Mashal July 7, 2020, “You Have No Right to Complain”: Education, Social Restrictions, and Justice in Taliban-Held Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch Subscribe. The forces worked with U.S. assistance, but they defied U.S. wishes when, on November 13, they marched into Kabul as the Taliban retreated without a fight. August 23, 2017, Daniel Byman May 22, 2017, Focused Engagement: A New Way Forward in Afghanistan, Christopher D. Kolenda Voice We Lost the War in Afghanistan. Washington Post CFR Relationship with Afghanistan, Kelly Magsamen and Michael Fuchs The Taliban, The Government, And Islamic State: Who Controls What In Afghanistan? September 26, 2018, Afghanistan: Peace Prospects at the Abyss, Stephen D. Biddle Despite vast powers under the constitution, Karzai was widely regarded as a weak leader who grew increasingly isolated as the war progressed. Myanmar A soldier with a sniper rifle near an anti-coup protest in Sanchaung this afternoon in Yangon – social media photo. United States Institute of Peace Throughout 2019 and into 2020, violence continued across Afghanistan as the United States increased air strikes and raids targeting the Taliban, while the Taliban continued to carry out attacks on Afghan government targets, make territorial gains, and target Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) bases and outposts. New York Times Since the beginning of the War in Afghanistan, over 111,000 Afghans, including militants, civilians, … The Soviet–Afghan War was a conflict wherein insurgent groups (known collectively as the Mujahideen), as well as smaller Maoist groups, fought a nine-year guerrilla war against the Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government throughout the 1980s, mostly in the Afghan countryside. CFR Blog, “Strength Through Peace” The operation also marked the entrance of other countries’ troops into the war: special operations forces from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, and Norway participated. Politics, Power, and Preventive Action October 7, 2020, The Taliban, at Least, Are Striking Gold in Afghanistan, Lynne O'Donnell and Mirwais Khan December 2019, Craig Whitlock Later that year NATO took command of the war across the country; American officials said that the United States would play a lesser role and that the face of the war would become increasingly international. It has been 17 years since the American invasion in 2001, and 39 years since the Soviet Union invasion in 1979. September 17, 2018, What Recent Taliban Advances Reveal About the State of Afghanistan’s Military, Andrew S. Bowen The United States consistently represented the largest foreign force in Afghanistan, and it bore the heaviest losses. February 2020, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Saddam Hussein. Updates? August 13, 2019, The State of the Fighting in the Afghan War in Mid-2019, Anthony H. Cordesman February 9, 2020, Afghanistan: Background and U.S. Policy In Brief, Clayton Thomas Congressional Research Service Scared and Weary, an Afghan Force Wonders: What Is Peace? Should the United States Leave Afghanistan? The guerrilla war against the Soviet forces led to their departure in 1989. United States Institute of Peace As the United States claims, the reason for this war was to … August 14, 2019. Afghanistan Analysts Network Center for a New American Security Ashraf Ghani October 15, 2019, Getting the Afghanistan Peace Process Back on Track, International Crisis Group July 17, 2019, Intensifying Violence Dulls Afghans’ Hopes for Peace, Borhan Osman May 26, 2020, Afghan Rivals Sign Power-Sharing Deal as Political Crisis Subsides, Mujib Mashal 9/11 Attacks• The reason for the War in Afghanistan• 2,752 civilians killed on September 11,2001.• 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked 4 commercial passenger jets.• 2 of the jets went into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in NYC.• 1 of the jets crashed into the Pentagon.• 1 of the jets crashed in Shanksville, PA. February 20, 2020, The Human Cost of Reconstruction in Afghanistan, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Afghanistan’s Election on Saturday Could be Bloodier Than Expected. War on the Rocks January 31, 2020, In Afghanistan, Religious Schools Are a Breeding Ground for Islamic State Influence, Stefanie Glinski New York Times Afghan Analysts Network George W. Bush coalesced around a strategy of first ousting the Taliban from Afghanistan and dismantling al-Qaeda, though others contemplated actions in Iraq, including long-standing plans for toppling Pres. Whereas early in the war the Taliban had focused on battling U.S. and NATO forces in open combat—a strategy that largely failed to inflict significant damage—their adoption of the use of suicide bombings and buried bombs, known as IEDs (improvised explosive devices), began to cause heavy casualties. And the Taliban were in the countryside. Task Force Program, About October 2, 2019. Wall Street Journal October 10, 2020, After Trump Promises a Swift Troop Exit From Afghanistan, Confusion Grows About U.S. Stance, Missy Ryan, Karen DeYoung, and Susannah George Agence France-Presse October 8, 2020, Emran Feroz Is the Afghan Peace Process Back on Track? One of the important events during his presidency was the start of the Afghanistan War. The larger force was used to implement a strategy of protecting the population from Taliban attacks and supporting efforts to reintegrate insurgents into Afghan society. At least 10 current members of the elite Special Air Service Regiment implicated in the damning Afghanistan war crimes inquiry have received "show cause" notices from the Defence Department. December 9, 2019, Afghanistan in 2019: A Survey of the Afghan People, Islamic State Staggers in Afghanistan, But Survives, Jeff Seldin May 20, 2016, The Islamic State in Afghanistan: Assessing the Threat, Casey Garret Johnson, Masood Karokhail and Rahmatullah Amiri Washington Post Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 13, 2019, Richard N. Haass November 12, 2020, Afghanistan: Background and U.S. Policy: In Brief, Clayton Thomas March 24, 2015, United Nations Security Council CFR Article OEF-A commenced on 7 October 2001 when the US and allied nations conducted military … August 22, 2017, Alyssa Ayres In July 2005, Australia agreed to a request by the government in Kabul to re-deploy more troops,... Troop surge. June 5, 2019, Perspectives on Peace from Taliban Areas of Afghanistan, Ashley Jackson By Borhan Osman But from the start, development efforts in Afghanistan were inadequately funded, as attention had turned among U.S. officials to the looming confrontation in Iraq. August 16, 2018, Afghan Cease-fires Could Pave Path to Peace, Courtney Cooper The Taliban leadership quickly lost control of the country and relocated to southern Afghanistan and across the border to Pakistan. May 3, 2017, Being Honest About U.S. Military Strategy in Afghanistan, Micah Zenko June 1, 2020. World Politics Review More March 30, 2020. The U.S. War in Afghanistan 1999 – 2020 The Taliban insurgency remains resilient nearly two decades after U.S.-led forces toppled its regime in what led to the United States’ longest war. Washington Post New York Times January 30, 2020, U.S. Department of Defense An Afghan Taliban militant carries a rocket-propelled grenade as he looks on with residents as they celebrate a ceasefire on the second day of Eid on the outskirts of Jalabad, Afghanistan on June 16, 2018. May 29, 2019, U.S. Raises the Stakes in Afghanistan From the Air, Andrew Quilty October 28, 2020, Taliban Conflict: Afghan Fears Rise as U.S. Ends Its Longest War, Lyse Doucet By spring 2010 more than 1,000 U.S. troops had been killed in Afghanistan, while the British troops suffered some 300 deaths and the Canadians some 150. It started as a result of terrorist groups residing within the country who struck the United States and killed thousands on … James Schwemlein November 2017, Rosa de Acosta and Andrew James New York Times Tens of thousands of Afghans are thought to have died since the U.S. helped topple the Taliban in 2001. September 11 Attacks On September 11, 2001 an Islamic terrorist group called al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger airliners and used them to attack the United States. Get Over It. March 30, 2020, James Dobbins New York Times Foreign Policy New York Times February 29, 2020, Sirajuddin Haqqani With fewer than 10,000 US troops left in in Afghanistan, mostly working as trainers, the Afghanistan war continues to drag on into its 16th consecutive year, with no end in sight. Ghani Takes the Oath of Afghan President. Therefore, a war in Afghanistan was not going to help in stabilizing the region; in fact, it may lead to the rise of more elements that the war was trying to eliminate. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper addressing Canadian soldiers at their base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, March 2006. Description. Washington Post New York Times Afghans and Their International Partners Have Paid the Costs. The leaked U.S. plan to end the war in Afghanistan Students leave school in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in December. Danish soldiers are sent to Afghanistan in 2009 for 6 months, to help stabilize the country against the Taliban. The reason that the war in Afghanistan lasted so long is the continual violence by insurgent groups in the area. From there, they have waged an insurgency against the Western-backed government in Kabul, international coalition troops, and Afghan national security forces. December 19, 2019, Envisioning a Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Afghanistan, Laurel E. Miller and Jonathan S. Blake During this period (especially between 1973 and 1978), Afghanistan was slowly beginning to consolidate state institutions. March 16, 2020, Potential for al-Qaeda-Islamic State Cooperation in Afghanistan, Farhan Zahid February 13, 2019, Finishing Strong: Seeking a Proper Exit from Afghanistan, Daniel F. Runde and Earl Anthony Wayne After more than a year of direct negotiations, the U.S. government and the Taliban signed a peace agreement on February 29, 2020, that sets a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. August 11, 2020, Virtual Roundtable: Prospects for Peace in Afghanistan, Seth G. Jones, Laurel E. Miller, and Paul B. It's Winning. Afghanistan Analysts Network Afghan policemen destroying opium poppies during an eradication sweep in Orūzgān province, 2007. These groups try to gain power and spread fear through the use of suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices. In return, the Taliban pledged to prevent territory under their control from being used by terrorist groups and enter into negotiations with the Afghan government in March 2020. Afghan War, in the history of Afghanistan, the internal conflict that began in 1978 between anticommunist Islamic guerrillas and the Afghan communist government (aided in 1979–89 by Soviet troops), leading to the overthrow of the government in 1992. June 2018, Unbeatable: Social Resources, Military Adaptation, and the Afghan Taliban, Theo Farrell Atlantic Council A Look at the Seven-day ‘Reduction of Violence’, Thomas Ruttig February 4, 2019. The 13 year conflict in Afghanistan was the longest war ever fought by the United States and continued during the presidency of Barack Obama. This shift reflected the greater need for U.S. troops and resources in Iraq, where sectarian warfare was reaching alarming levels. U.S. officials hoped that by partnering with the Afghans they could avoid deploying a large force to Afghanistan. The recent peace road map signed in Doha between the United States and the Taliban is so far the closest the two sides have come to ending the so-called long war in Afghanistan. Long War Journal, Geneve Conference Lays Out Challenges in Afghanistan, Vinay Kaura CFR Backgrounder October 15, 2015, White House April 16, 2018, Why Peace Talks Are Washington's Best Bet in Afghanistan, Vikram J. Singh March 12, 2018, Why the Time Is Right to Talk to the Taliban, Courtney Cooper July 1, 2020, Lindsay Maizland and Zachary Laub August 13, 2019, The Case for a New U.S. July 24, 2017, Antonio Giustozzi The first CIA team to enter Afghanistan was code-named "Jawbreaker." The War in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom)-(2001-Present): The War in Afghanistan is the first major conflict of the 21st Century. Antonio Giustozzi May 6, 2020, COVID-19 in Afghanistan: Compounding Crises, Andrew Watkins The ANDSF continue to suffer heavy casualties and, while actual figures have now been classified by the U.S. military, senior Afghan officials estimate that for several months in 2018 as many as thirty to forty ANDSF personnel were killed every day. Politics, Power, and Preventive Action Since 2001, the war in Afghanistan has basically been an urban versus a rural war. Center for Research & Policy Analysis Liveuamap News. By the way, there are more uniforms than shown in the pictures. Taliban walk as they celebrate a ceasefire in Ghanikhel district of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan on June 16, 2018. Afghanistan Analysts Network September 22, 2016, Seth G. Jones Another source of money was Afghanistan’s resurgent opium industry. CFR Interview Unsubscribe. February 19, 2020. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Center for American Progress The Americans also teamed with anti-Taliban Pashtuns in southern Afghanistan, including a little-known tribal leader named Hamid Karzai. The war in Afghanistan began with a U.S.-led military response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, designed to remove the Taliban-led regime and prevent future terrorist safe havens. July 29, 2019, ‘What Kind of Peace Talks Are These?’: On the Front Lines of a 17-Year War, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Taimoor Shah and Najim Rahim The War in Afghanistan started in October of 2001 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. On May 1, 2003, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced an end to “major combat” in Afghanistan. September 9, 2019. February 29, 2020, Inside the U.S. Military's Historic Week in Afghanistan Ahead of a Peace Deal With the Taliban, Dam Lamonthe Voice We Lost the War in Afghanistan. The new approach largely failed to achieve its aims. Elections, Elites, and Ethnic Tensions, Andrew Watkins These fighters won extensive covert backing from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States and were joined in their fight by foreign volunteers (who soon formed a network, known as al-Qaeda, to coordinate their efforts). Congressional Research Service CFR Article Between January 2005 and August 2006, Afghanistan endured 64 suicide attacks—a tactic that had been virtually unknown in the country’s history before then. March 3, 2020. For more than four years the war has been at a stalemate, with, according to official U.S. government estimates as of 2019, only 53.8 percent of Afghan districts under government control or influence, 33.9 percent contested, and the remaining 12.3 percent under the control or influence of the Taliban. September 2020, Taking Stock of the Taliban’s Perspectives on Peace, International Crisis Group It has become the longest war waged in U.S. history. With al-Qaeda’s help, the Taliban won control of over 90 percent of Afghan territory by the summer of 2001. October 18, 2018, Overcoming the Prisoner’s Dilemma to Reach Peace in Afghanistan, Courtney Cooper and Samir Kumar Stares, Carter Malkasian, Barnett Rubin, and James M. Lindsay, Michèle A. Flournoy, Carter A. Malkasian, and Carla Anne Robbins, Alyssa Ayres, Carlotta Gall, Cameron Munter, and Barney Rubin, Courtney Cooper, Ronald E. Neumann, David S. Sedney, and James J. Shinn, Seth Jones, James M. Lindsay, and Robert McMahon, Zalmay Khalilzad, James M. Lindsay, and Robert McMahon, CFR Contingency Planning Memorandum No. More than half the money went to training and equipping Afghan security forces, and the remainder represented a fraction of the amount that experts said would be required to develop a country that had consistently ranked near the bottom of global human development indices. Jamestown Foundation Omissions? Pentagon officials were especially concerned that the United States not be drawn into a protracted occupation of Afghanistan, as had occurred with the Soviets more than two decades prior. Center for Research & Policy Analysis This reality prompted the United States to begin targeting insurgent leaders who lived in Pakistan with missiles fired from remotely piloted drones. December 2019, Reintegration of Ex-Combatants: Lessons From the U.S. Afghanistan: The Harrison Forman Collection This online exhibit documents the life and culture of Afghanistan in the late 1960s, several years Back to Nation-Building in Afghanistan. United States Institute of Peace The year 2010 remains the most deadly year for coalition forces in Afghanistan. Just Security BBC Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Those feelings were nurtured by the sluggish pace of reconstruction, allegations of prisoner abuse at U.S. detention facilities, widespread corruption in the Afghan government, and civilian casualties caused by U.S. and NATO bombings. CFR Expert Brief Pakistani officials in turn denounced the strikes in public but privately approved of them as long as civilian casualties were limited. Get Over It. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. May 7, 2020, For the Taliban, the Pandemic Is a Ladder, Ashley Jackson In early 2007, Mullah Obaidullah Akhund—the Taliban’s number three leader—was captured in Pakistan, and months later Mullah Dadullah—the Taliban’s top military commander—was killed in fighting with U.S. forces. CFR Event Amber Duan New York Review of Books The U.S. and its NATO-led allies announced the official conclusion of their combat mission in Afghanistan … The Taliban Doesn't Need Peace. February 9, 2017, Christopher D. Kolenda and Zachary Laub War in Afghanistan Taliban walk as they celebrate a ceasefire in Ghanikhel district of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan on June 16, 2018. Karzai’s government was beset by corruption, and efforts to build a national army and a police force were troubled from the start by inadequate international support and ethnic differences between Afghans. The Afghan Peace Process Has Started. CFR Blog, “Asia Unbound” CFR Conference Call The war in Afghanistan spanned the tenures of three prime ministers, and cost the lives of 453 British service personnel and thousands of Afghans. The Afghan government itself remains divided after a contentious election, further complicating prospects for the talk. Braces for Return of Terrorist Safe Havens to Afghanistan, Helene Cooper ODI When ISAF did begin to venture beyond Kabul, its efforts were hampered by the “caveats” of its component countries—restrictions that kept all but a handful of the militaries from actively engaging in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. June 2019, The Situation in Afghanistan and Its Implications for International Peace and Security, Report of the Secretary-General The Taliban emerged and in 1996 seized Kabul. The longest war in American history has gone on for more than 19 years. The Afghanistan War, which lasted about 13 years, is known to be the longest war in United States history. The first phase—toppling the Taliban (the ultraconservative political and religious faction that ruled Afghanistan and provided sanctuary for al-Qaeda, perpetrators of the September 11 attacks)—was brief, lasting just two months. New York Times December 12, 2017, Kosh Sadat and Stan McChrystal As the fighting dragged on and casualties escalated, the war lost popularity in many Western countries, creating domestic political pressure to keep troops out of harm’s way or to pull them out altogether. August 10, 2018, Barnett R. Rubin After the Taliban government refused to hand over terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in the wake of al-Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan. Foreign Affairs Between 2001 and 2009, just over $38 billion in humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan was appropriated by the U.S. Congress. 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