What Happened in Afghanistan?

What Happened in Afghanistan?

Why are we in Afghanistan?

After the attacks of September 11th, 2001, the U.S. Commander in Chief, George W. Bush, vowed that we would bring the people who had committed the attacks to justice. That led us to Afghanistan where the terrorist group, ISIS, was based. Ten years later, the U.S. killed the leader of ISIS, Osama Bin Laden, in his hideout. The U.S. rejoiced as the man who had done them wrong had been brought to justice. However, that didn’t mean that the U.S. could leave Afghanistan yet. The U.S. began training a militia for the Afghans to prevent another terrorist group from basing itself in the country.

Less than a decade later under the Trump Administration, President Trump had set an agreement with another group called the Taliban that the U.S. would withdraw from Afghanistan by August 31 of 2021. This was because after nearly a decade of military training, both the Trump and Biden Administrations were under the impression that the Afghans would be able to hold their own against groups like the Taliban.

Who are the Taliban?

The Taliban are a Deobandi Islamist religious-political movement and military organization in Afghanistan. A small Taliban militia first emerged near Kandahar, Afghanistan in the spring and summer of 1994 and committed vigilante acts against minor warlords. Following the United States invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 after the attacks on September 11th, the Taliban was defeated and many Taliban fighters left the movement or retreated to sanctuaries in Pakistan. 

Why did the U.S. exit Afghanistan?

On February 29, 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed a peace agreement in Doha, Qatar, officially titled the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan.The provisions of the deal included the withdrawal of all American and NATO troops from Afghanistan, a Taliban pledge to prevent al-Qaeda from operating in areas which were under Taliban control, and talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The United States agreed to an initial reduction of its force level from 13,000 to 8,600 troops by July 2020, followed by a full withdrawal of its troops within 14 months if the Taliban honors its commitments. The deal was supported by China, Russia and Pakistan, although it did not involve the government of Afghanistan.

Exiting Afghanistan

On August 16th, 500 U.S. Embassy Employees were airlifted out of Afghanistan as Taliban fighters entered the Afghanistan capital of Kabul. This began the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. In a speech to the nation, Biden said, “I do not regret my decision to end America’s warfighting in Afghanistan,” and denied blame for the Afghanistan government’s collapse that would ensue days later. The United States soldiers were evacuated first leaving all U.S. Military equipment left behind unguarded. Within a couple more days, videos surfaced of members of the Taliban using this equipment for their amusement. Since the Afghanistan government had fallen to pieces, there was nobody to stop them from playing with the United States’ multi billion dollar equipment.

The Uncertainty Left in Afghanistan 

Many innocent Americans were left behind for a few days. The United States did not have all its soldiers out until the morning of August 31st but not before another Islamic terrorist group (ISIS) dropped explosives over Afghanistan taking the lives of 13 U.S. Marine soldiers and wounding many more. By this point, the Afghanistan government had been overrun by the Taliban as they now control the airports as well which enables them to limit travel in and out of the capital city, Kabul.