Afghan War

The Afghanistan War is the NATO operation in Afghanistan, 2001 to the present, to destroy the Taliban.

For the Soviet invasion and war, 1979-89, see Soviet-Afghan War. For politics and society, see Afghanistan.

Operation Enduring Freedom easily defeated the Taliban in late 2001 and it seemed the war was over quickly. But the Taliban regrouped, especially in the southern provinces, with sanctuaries inside neighboring Pakistan in remote areas where the government of Pakistan had little authority. By 2003 the insurgency in the south was in operation, funded by opium production. Important factors for the return of insurgency include the initial mistakes made in 2001; radical Islamic support from Pakistan; weaknesses of the Hamad Karzai government, especially its feeble and corrupt national army and police; the question of legitimacy and offenses to traditional tribal and Islamic values and beliefs; and, finally, the extent to which NATO forces became part of the problem by angering the tribes.

Sanctuary

From the mid-1990s the Taliban controlled Afghanistan and provided sanctuary to Osama bin Laden with his Al-Qaida band of Arab terrorists. Bin Laden provided both financial and political support to the Taliban. Bin Laden and his Al-Qaida group were charged with the bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam in 1998, and in August 1998 the United States launched a cruise missile attack against bin Laden's terrorist camp in southeastern Afghanistan. Bin Laden and Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks attacks against the United States.

Following the Taliban's repeated refusal to expel bin Laden and his group and end its support for international terrorism, NATO, under U.S. command began a military campaign on October 7, 2001, targeting terrorist facilities and various Taliban military and political assets within Afghanistan. Under pressure from U.S. military and anti-Taliban forces, the Taliban disintegrated rapidly, and Kabul fell on November 13, 2001.

New government

Afghan factions opposed to the Taliban met at a United Nations-sponsored conference in Bonn, Germany in December 2001 and agreed to restore stability and governance to Afghanistan--creating an interim government and establishing a process to move toward a permanent government. Under the "Bonn Agreement," an Afghan Interim Authority was formed and took office in Kabul on December 22, 2001 with Hamid Karzai as Chairman. The Interim Authority held power for approximately 6 months while preparing for a nationwide "Loya Jirga" (Grand Council) in mid-June 2002 that decided on the structure of a Transitional Authority. The Transitional Authority, headed by President Hamid Karzai, renamed the government as the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA). One of the TISA's primary achievements was the drafting of a constitution that was ratified by a Constitutional Loya Jirga on January 4, 2004

File:Afg-canada.jpg

Canadian forces in Afghanistan

Debate 2009

The Obama Administration has made the war a high priority; indeed Obama sharply criticized the war in Iraq because for so long, he said, it diverted resources and attention from Afghanistan. In September 2009, the Pentagon pushed back against liberal Democrats who oppose sending additional combat troops to Afghanistan, telling Congress that success would probably require more fighting forces, and certainly much more time. Details are awaited of a new report by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the senior American and NATO commander in Afghanistan, who believes a properly resourced counterinsurgency war means more forces, more time and more commitment to the protection of the Afghan people and to the development of a strong Afghan government capable of defending its own country. 4000 more American 4,000 trainers will arrive by November, bringing the American troop level to 68,000.

International role

More than 108,000 NATO troops are serving in Afghanistan in September 2009: 64,500 from the United States, 9,000 from Britain and 34,500 from other nations. In all, 1,386 troops have been killed. Germany has 4000 troops based in the Kunduz region. NATO deaths include 830 Americans, and 214 British; 22 other countries that have sent forces to Afghanistan have suffered deaths among their troops, with Canada bearing the next greatest burden.

American Chinook helicopters from 101st Aviation Regiment depart from Forward Operating Base Ramrod in Kandahar

US politics

Democrats in Congress, led by Michigan Senator Carl Levin demand accelerated efforts to train and equip Afghan security forces before there is any more deployment of American troops. Mr. Levin said new goals should be established for Afghan security forces. The army, he said, should grow to 250,000 troops by the end of 2012, and the police to 160,000 officers by that date. The current targets are 134,000 army troops and 96,000 police officers by the end of next year. The luke-warm Congressional Democrats are countered by Republicans, led by Senator John McCain, who strongly supports the Obama position. McCain insists that more troops are "vitally needed" and that any delay in ordering more combat forces to the fight would put American lives at risk.

Further reading

• Franks, Tommy. American Soldier (2004), memoir of US commander in 2001-2
• Jockel, Joseph T. and Joel J. Sokolsky. "Canada and the War in Afghanistan: NATO's Odd Man Out Steps Forward." Journal Of Transatlantic Studies 2008 6(1): 100-115 online in EBSCO
• Jones, Seth. In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan (2009) excerpt and text search
• Rashid, Ahmed. Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia (2009), blames Bush for a weak response to the need for force. excerpt and text search

External links

• President Karzai of Afghanistan
• articles on Canadian forces