The war in Afghanistan began a few weeks after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with U.S. and international forces quickly overrunning the Taliban government that had sheltered Bin Laden and his network. But despite early military successes, the continued presence of U.S. forces and a heavy commitment by the NATO alliance, the Taliban regrouped. After the Iraq war begins in 2003, Afghanistan became the second most priority for U.S. troops. The Taliban-led insurgency hardened in 2006 and 2007, but NATO refused to greatly expand its fighting force despite U.S. pressure.

By 2008, the insurgency controlled significant territory and the war stalemated. Eight years after al-Qaeda attacked Americans at home and the United States invaded Afghanistan in response, liberals, conservatives and moderates alike say they don’t know what American forces are fighting for. They doubt that the U.S. will be successful and question what winning even means. Many also no longer seem to view the war through the prism of Sept. 11, 2001; few mention the attacks but many – rightly or wrongly – draw parallels to Vietnam. 

Meanwhile, questions arouse either is it really appropriate to let the military carry the political burden of selling the war? To reminisce, Americans lost the war in the living rooms of America and not the battlefields of Vietnam. Now, most of them are conscious enough and sounded – Can’t we learn this lesson? Public support does not just happen, it must be worked at.  The two wars are very different; the War in Afghanistan resulted from an attack on the United States; while Vietnam didn’t. The draft has been replaced by voluntary military service, meaning far fewer Americans are directly affected; the government drafted people to Vietnam by lottery, making the war central to the lives of most young Americans.

What is perhaps the only thing that could succeed in conquering the unconquerable piece of dirt and rock known as Afghanistan? Bombs and bullets kill Afghanistan’s people and in doing so create Taliban martyrs. Books, schools, free lunch and grassroots social assistance bring comfort and opportunity to enable Afghanis to think about a future that could be. The Taliban and fundamentalists want the future to consist only of the past, and the Taliban will accept nothing less than a strict Islamic state, stuck in the past and stuck in the narrow mind-set of a theocratic Islamic state.

Even more depressing is the reality that there is no guarantee of success, in fact, far from it, considering history is against the U.S. Counterinsurgency experts have calculated historical win rates at 25%, not to mention these types of engagements usually last on average between 10 and 15 years. According to the U.S. military counterinsurgency doctrine they should have 1 troop on the ground for every 50 civilians. Thus, in order to win the battle, the U.S. would have to expand the size of its footprint from 100,000 to 650,000 troops depending on the number of troops sent by NATO and the size and caliber of the Afghan national army.

Be that as it may, however, the soldier’s mission after 9/11 was supposed to be the capture of Bin Laden and hunt down those responsible for the attacks against the World Trade Center and not in the business of nation building. Soldiers have successfully removed an oppressive regime but it is now time to hand back the responsibility of securing the nation to its people. While those who commit acts of terrorism must be brought to justice, one must realize that terrorism is a product of an imperialistic foreign policy.