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→U.S. involvement
==U.S. involvement==
==U.S. involvement==
In 2001, the CIA's Special Activities Division units were the first U.S. forces to enter Afghanistan. Their efforts organized the Afghan Northern Alliance for the subsequent arrival of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) (United States Special Operations Command) forces. The plan for the invasion of Afghanistan was developed by the CIA, the first time in United States history that such a large-scale military operation was planned by the CIA.<ref name="channel.nationalgeographic.com">{{cite web|url=http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/cia-confidential/4199/Overview |title=CIA Confidential , Hunt for Bin Laden , National Geographic Channel |publisher=Channel.nationalgeographic.com |accessdate=May 19, 2011}}</ref> SAD, U.S. Army Special Forces and the Northern Alliance combined to overthrow the [[Taliban]] in Afghanistan with minimal loss of U.S. lives. They did this without the need for U.S. military conventional ground forces.<ref>{{cite book |title=First In: An insiders account of how the CIA spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan |first=Gary |last=Schroen |year=2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A personal account by the CIA's field Commander |first=Gary |last=Berntsen |coauthors=Ralph Pezzulla |publisher=Crown |isbn=978-0-307-23740-8 |year=2005}}</ref><ref>Woodward, Bob (2002) "Bush at War", Simon & Schuster, Inc.</ref>
In late 2003, the Joint Chiefs designated Lt. Gen. David W. Barno as the new commander of American forces in Afghanistan, He adopted a counterinsurgency strategy, requiring coalition forces to work closely with Afghan leaders to stabilize entire regions, rather than simply attacking insurgent cells. Because the Pentagon insisted on maintaining a "small footprint" in Afghanistan and because [[Operation Iraqi Freedom|Iraq]] was a higher priority conflict, Barno was given only 20,000 troops. As a result, [[battalion]]s with 800 soldiers were trying to secure provinces the size of [[Vermont]]. Coalition forces were thinly spread across the mountainous land, leaving much of Afghanistan vulnerable to enemy force increasingly willing to reassert their power. On the positive side, the pairing of small [[U.S. Special Operations forces|Special Operations Forces]] teams with Afghan militias, which, backed by laser-guided weapons, drove the Taliban from power.
In late 2003, the Joint Chiefs designated Lt. Gen. David W. Barno as the new commander of American forces in Afghanistan, He adopted a counterinsurgency strategy, requiring coalition forces to work closely with Afghan leaders to stabilize entire regions, rather than simply attacking insurgent cells. Because the Pentagon insisted on maintaining a "small footprint" in Afghanistan and because [[Operation Iraqi Freedom|Iraq]] was a higher priority conflict, Barno was given only 20,000 troops. As a result, [[battalion]]s with 800 soldiers were trying to secure provinces the size of [[Vermont]]. Coalition forces were thinly spread across the mountainous land, leaving much of Afghanistan vulnerable to enemy force increasingly willing to reassert their power. On the positive side, the pairing of small [[U.S. Special Operations forces|Special Operations Forces]] teams with Afghan militias, which, backed by laser-guided weapons, drove the Taliban from power.
The ''[[Washington Post]]'' stated in an editorial by John Lehman in 2006:
:"What made the Afghan campaign a landmark in the U.S. Military's history is that it was prosecuted by Special Operations forces from all the services, along with Navy and Air Force tactical power, operations by the Afghan Northern Alliance and the CIA were equally important and fully integrated. No large Army or Marine force was employed".<ref>Washington Post Editorial, John Lehman former Secretary of the Navy, October 2008</ref>
In a 2008 ''[[New York Times]]'' book review of ''Horse Soldiers'', a book by Doug Stanton about the invasion of Afghanistan, Bruce Barcott wrote:
:"The valor exhibited by Afghan and American soldiers, fighting to free Afghanistan from a horribly cruel regime, will inspire even the most jaded reader. The stunning victory of the horse soldiers—350 Special Forces soldiers, 100 C.I.A. officers and 15,000 Northern Alliance fighters routing a Taliban army 50,000 strong—deserves a hallowed place in American military history".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/books/review/Barcott-t.html?pagewanted=2 | work=The New York Times | title=Special Forces | first=Bruce | last=Barcott | date=May 17, 2009 | accessdate=March 27, 2010}}</ref>
==Nation building==
==Nation building==