The United States Invasion of Afghanistan has over the past decades caused many controversies as various journalists, architectures, engineers and overly American citizens questioned the narrative presented by the government on why the U.S and her NATO allies started the war in 2001. Initially, the Invasion is said to be a retaliation by the government against the infamous 9/11 attacks spearheaded by Al-Qaida terrorists who were at the time led by Osama Bin Laden. The U.S government therefore demanded the Afghan Government and the Taliban to hand over Osama Bin Laden but the latter refused and instead demanded evidence that would justify the expatriation of Osama Bin Laden. Due to the inconsistencies in the narrative provided by the U.S. as well as the questionable events before and after the Afghanistan war, this paper argues that the U.S Invasion of Afghanistan was not based on the 9/11 attacks but rather, the attacks made on U.S soil were premeditated as a means to justify the invasion by the United States Military.
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First, the war in Afghanistan was initiated during President George W. Bush’s presidency in 2001. The war continued to the presidency of President Barack Obama and is currently a controversial subject in the current Trump presidency. During the Bush administration, the 9/11 attack was one of the largest and most historic terrorist attacks in U.S history as it made headlines across the world. The U.S government later announced that the attack was spearheaded by Osama Bin Laden, an Al Qaida leader based in Afghanistan. The Invasion of the Afghan country was therefore justified as a retaliation especially since the Taliban refused to hand Bin Laden to the U.S government. However, the diplomatic efforts lasted two weeks with a non-consensus as the U.S government demanded the release of Osama Bin Laden while the Taliban demanded proof that Al Qaida leader Bin Laden was responsible for the terror attack. The U.S government insisted on the handing over of Bin Laden, but failed to provide solid proof that the individual was actually responsible for the attack (Coll, 2004).
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As is evident, the U.S government failed to provide proof and instead offered accusations tying the Al Qaida to other terrorist attacks in Africa. Whether the U.S lacked solid evidence or simply did not intend for diplomatic solutions is questionable as the U.S government, under President Bush declared war on Afghanistan. To date, the U.S government has never released evidence tying Osama Bin Laden and the Al Qaida to the 9/11 attacks.
Secondly, the death of Osama Bin Laden in May 1, 2011 was not enough to pull the U.S military from Afghanistan. The U.S government managed to complete the ten-year mission which was to retaliate the 9/11 bombing as well as end the Taliban military capacity in Afghanistan but still did not pull out of the country after achieving its goal. This raises the question of whether the intended purpose of the Afghanistan invasion was a terrorism-related war. The United States pentagon officials later claimed to have discovered that Afghanistan had vast minerals, and therefore intended to help the country mine and access these minerals as a way to build and restore order to their country (Baker, 2018). The Afghan citizens are however hostile to the U.S military and consider their presence a threat to their peace and daily livelihoods. Research shows that the U.S military stay in Afghanistan led to increased resistance from the Afghans who join terrorist forces and are tagged as insurgents. These Insurgents fight the U.S military to push them out of their country but the U.S stays as unwanted guests.
Thirdly, the war in Afghanistan is on the 16th year and has left the Afghan citizens unstable and poor despite efforts to help use their rich minerals to stabilize the country. Evidently, the discovery of wealthy self-sufficient minerals in Afghanistan has attracted other parties like Russia and China (Bender et al. 2018). All these countries have military involvement and this portrays the geo-political and corporate interference in the country. Presently, the war in Afghanistan is based on counter geo-political aspects wherein each prominent country wants dominance over the rich oil reservoirs and other wealthy minerals in the country. The projected narrative is however described as a war on terrorism, democracy and women’s rights.
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Individuals who believe that the U.S government was justified to invade and stay in Afghan for more than a decade base their concerns on the country’s efforts to fight terrorism. It is however, not right for a foreign country to demand the expatriation of a citizen without providing concrete evidence that justify the expatriation. The U.S government is also in a war with Afghanistan citizens whose motive is to simply chase the foreign military out of their country (Witte, 2018). Presently, the presence of the U.S military in Afghanistan has led to constant tensions and unwanted bombings, deaths and instability in the country but the U.S still fails to withdraw its forces from the country and ironically sends more troops each year to help with the Insurgent situation (Rall, 2002).
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In conclusion, The Afghanistan war has an official narrative that justifies the Invasion by the U.S military. However, evident factors show the presence of ulterior motives that not only disapprove international laws but also go against basic human rights as the Afghan citizens suffer the consequences of a war that does not involve them. The war is founded on western dominance politics as there lacks evidence that ties Afghanistan to the 9/11 attacks. The continued stay of U.S military forces in Afghanistan is also unnecessary and a false excuse by the U.S government and other representative parties whose focus is the control of the rich oil and mineral reserves in the country.
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