Those who left and those who could not flee speak of a country in ruins and decry the world’s apathy towards the humanitarian crisis and the lack of rights, mainly for women, which a UN report describes as ‘gender apartheid’
Not really understanding the previous comments. War in Afghanistan was not about “helping people”. Wikipedia lists that “Osama Bin Laden planned and coordinated the attacks, and the US desire to hold him accountable became the casus belli for invasion.” Not getting into whether that is a valid justification ethically or not, but the initial justification for the invasion is clear and prefaced by the presence of “Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Special Activities Division paramilitary teams … active in Afghanistan in the 1990s in clandestine operations to locate and kill or capture Osama bin Laden.”
The nation building phase began much later and (in my opinion) pursued due to strategic interests in occupying the land and having a government favorable to the United States and coalition forces. Again, and without discussing whether this is ethically correct, it was of enough strategic importance that trillions of dollars and thousands of lives were expended to ensure this. All I know is, it wasn’t for the people, neither ours nor theirs. So was it worth it?
Not really understanding the previous comments. War in Afghanistan was not about “helping people”. Wikipedia lists that “Osama Bin Laden planned and coordinated the attacks, and the US desire to hold him accountable became the casus belli for invasion.” Not getting into whether that is a valid justification ethically or not, but the initial justification for the invasion is clear and prefaced by the presence of “Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Special Activities Division paramilitary teams … active in Afghanistan in the 1990s in clandestine operations to locate and kill or capture Osama bin Laden.”
The nation building phase began much later and (in my opinion) pursued due to strategic interests in occupying the land and having a government favorable to the United States and coalition forces. Again, and without discussing whether this is ethically correct, it was of enough strategic importance that trillions of dollars and thousands of lives were expended to ensure this. All I know is, it wasn’t for the people, neither ours nor theirs. So was it worth it?