War in Afghanistan 2001-2015 By: Devyn Hantgin

The war in Afghanistan took place from 2001 to 2014. The US invaded Afghanistan after the September 11^th attacks. The US and its allies were trying to get rid of al-Qaeda. US president George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden. The Taliban refused to give up Osama bin Laden. The US and its allies drove the Taliban from power and built military bases in major cities across the country. Al-Qaeda and most of the Taliban were not captured and fled to Pakistan or more mountainous or rural areas. Even though they were outnumbered, the Taliban took part in asymmetric warfare with Guerilla raids and ambushes in the countryside. On May 2, 2011, the United States Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. A year later in May of 2012, NATO planned an exit strategy for removing their forces. Since then, peace talks have taken place between the Afghan government and the Taliban. In May of 2014, Obama announced that he would be withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan leaving small forces in the country until the end of 2016. As of 2015, tens of thousands of people have been killed in this war. But as this conflict comes to a close, the US’ direct involvement is diminishing. The US was supposed to establish a new form of government in Afghanistan to resolve further conflicts, but this did not happen. Though the US withdrew forces in Afghanistan, they are preparing to go back to deal with ISIS. ISIS is a new terrorist group that the US is helping to destroy.

My suggestion for peace is to have a few peace meetings with ISIS or try our best to negotiate with them peacefully before we take military action. I also feel that we should help Afghanistan build a stronger government so they can safely deal with any new terrorist groups that might arise.

Actor #1: Al-Qaeda, or the Taliban, views the US as greedy and selfish. They wanted to be recognized as a world power, and one of the ways to do that was to attack the most powerful country in the world.

Actor #2: The US was trying to protect itself and its citizens. After the September 11^th attacks, US authorities wanted to capture and punish terrorist leaders responsible for killing thousands.