The Afghanistan War: America's Longest And Costliest Conflict

The war in Afghanistan was America's longest war, lasting 20 years and costing the lives of over 2,000 U.S. military personnel, with over 20,000 others wounded. The war was triggered by the September 11 attacks and consisted of three phases. The first phase was to topple the Taliban, which was achieved in just two months. However, the second phase, from 2002 to 2008, proved more challenging as the U.S. struggled to defeat the Taliban militarily and rebuild core institutions of the Afghan state. The third phase, from 2008 onwards, saw a shift to classic counterinsurgency doctrine, with a temporary increase in U.S. troop presence. Despite these efforts, the war failed to achieve its aims, with insurgent attacks and civilian casualties remaining high. The war cost America close to $1 trillion and ended with the Taliban retaking control of Afghanistan.

The war cost America trillions of dollars and thousands of lives

The war in Afghanistan was America's longest war, lasting 20 years. The conflict began in 2001, triggered by the September 11 attacks, and resulted in a death toll in the tens of thousands. The war cost the United States trillions of dollars and thousands of lives.

The human cost of the war was immense. By April 2021, 2,448 American service members had been killed in Afghanistan, with 20,722 wounded in action, not including the 18 injured in the attack by ISIS-K outside Kabul airport in August 2021. The war also took a toll on American contractors, with 3,846 killed. The conflict claimed the lives of 66,000 Afghan national military and police personnel, as well as 47,245 Afghan civilians. The Taliban and other opposition fighters suffered 51,191 deaths.

The financial cost of the war was equally staggering. The United States spent over $2 trillion on the war effort, with the Department of Defense bearing the brunt of the cost at $933 billion. This included funding for operations, equipment, and weapons, as well as increases to the base military budget. The State Department spent $59 billion on overseas contingency funds, while the interest on borrowed funds to finance the war amounted to $530 billion. The cost of caring for American veterans of the war was also significant, with an estimated $296 billion spent on their medical and other care.

The war in Afghanistan took an enormous toll on America in terms of lives lost and financial resources expended. The conflict lasted two decades and resulted in thousands of American and Afghan deaths, as well as economic costs that will continue to be felt for years to come.

The war was unwinnable due to the Taliban's greater commitment and understanding of Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan was unwinnable due to the Taliban's greater commitment and understanding of Afghanistan.

The Taliban's commitment to the war was stronger than that of the US. While the US had to juggle multiple challenges around the world, the war was the Taliban's sole focus. As one saying goes, "America has the watches, but the Taliban has the time."

The Taliban's commitment was also reflected in their willingness to endure greater losses. The US lost 2,400 service members and had 20,700 others wounded, while the Taliban suffered far more casualties.

The Taliban also had a better understanding of Afghanistan's local networks and complex loyalties. They were able to make deals with Afghan army commanders and gain the support of local communities. They understood the unique relationship between the country's 14 recognised ethnic groups and its various tribes. In contrast, the US forces emphasised working with the Pashtuns, the ethnic majority, but failed to recognise that they were spread across multiethnic and multilingual tribes.

The Taliban's greater commitment and understanding of Afghanistan gave them a significant advantage in the war.

The war was based on a flawed understanding of Afghanistan and its people

The war in Afghanistan was based on a flawed understanding of Afghanistan and its people. The US government believed that it knew what the country needed, but this was not necessarily what the people wanted. The US saw the Taliban as evil, but Afghans saw them as a source of order and stability. The US wanted to transform the country's culture, but this was not possible without the support of the Afghan people.

The US government's approach to reconstruction was flawed. It did not have a coherent strategy and did not understand the Afghan context. It underestimated the time and resources required to rebuild Afghanistan and created unrealistic timelines. It did not ensure that its projects were sustainable and failed to tailor its efforts to the historical, social, legal, and political traditions of the country.

The US government also struggled to get the right people into the right jobs. Staff were often unqualified and poorly trained, and there was a constant turnover of US personnel. This negatively impacted reconstruction efforts.

The war was a failure of military planning and political reality

The Afghanistan War was a failure of military planning and political reality.

Failure of Military Planning

The US military intervention in Afghanistan was initially justified by the need to dismantle immediate and serious national security threats: al-Qaeda and fears of weapons of mass destruction. However, the short-term goal of removing the Taliban from power was quickly replaced by a longer-term goal of preventing future threats from the country, such as new extremist groups. This led the US to occupy Afghanistan and attempt to provide stability and security so that the Afghan people could set up their own government.

However, military organizations are not equipped or trained to engage effectively in civilian-centred missions such as fostering national identity, forming political institutions, or instilling democratic practices of accountability. The US military modelled the Afghan military on its own, with a centralized structure, capital-intensive equipment, and aircraft. Centralized logistics systems were not adapted to the country's rugged terrain. Vast resources were expended in creating a large standing force that required constant recruitment and replenishment due to casualties and desertion.

Failure of Political Reality

The US approach to nation-building in Afghanistan was based on the flawed assumption that it could persuade, cajole, or force a project that much of the population did not actively embrace or participate in. The US sought to implement centralized models of governance and military institutions that were inappropriate, imperfectly realized, and expensive to sustain. The US and its allies set aspirational goals for societal transformation that could not be achieved on a relatively slim support base of urbanized, educated Afghans.

The US modelled the Afghan military on its own, with a centralized structure, capital-intensive equipment, and aircraft that Congress required to be US-made—even though Afghans were used to Russian-made helicopters and planes that were much easier to maintain. Centralized logistics systems were not adapted to the country's rugged terrain. Vast resources were expended in creating a large standing force that required constant recruitment and replenishment due to casualties and desertion. Experiments in creating local defence forces offered an alternative that could have become the primary model for most of the country’s defences. These forces were recruited with support from local elders and deployed locally, as militias traditionally had been. Despite successes by the local forces, the juggernaut of creating an expensive, centralized army continued and, in the end, failed.

The war was a result of America's righteous crusade against evil

The war in Afghanistan was a result of America's righteous crusade against evil.

The war in Afghanistan was a direct response to the September 11 attacks on the United States, perpetrated by al-Qaeda. The US government, under President George W. Bush, vowed to "win the war against terrorism" and zeroed in on al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan. Bush called on the Taliban regime to "deliver to the United States authorities all the leaders of al-Qaeda who hide in your land", or share in their fate. This marked the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The war was framed as a righteous crusade against evil, with Bush declaring that the US would "win this war against terrorism" and "rid the world of evil". The invasion of Afghanistan was thus presented as a just and necessary response to the attacks, with the ultimate goal of defeating al-Qaeda and bringing bin Laden to justice. This framing rallied support for the war effort, both domestically and internationally.

The initial phase of the war was swift and successful, with the Taliban regime quickly toppling and bin Laden forced into hiding. However, the war effort soon became mired in complexities, and the US found itself in a protracted occupation of Afghanistan. The war evolved from a crusade against evil to a quagmire, as the US struggled to stabilise the country and combat the resurgence of the Taliban.

Despite the initial success in toppling the Taliban, the war effort faced numerous challenges. These included widespread corruption, intense grievances, Pakistani meddling, and deep-rooted resistance to foreign occupation. The US also faced challenges in understanding the local culture and dynamics, leading to missteps in their nation-building efforts. Additionally, the war effort was hampered by a lack of clear and achievable goals, with the US focusing more on counterterrorism than countercorruption.

The war in Afghanistan became a protracted conflict, with the US struggling to achieve its objectives. The Taliban gradually regained strength and influence, and the war effort became a stalemate. The US found itself in a difficult position, with the choice between continuing the war effort indefinitely or withdrawing and risking a resurgence of terrorist threats. Ultimately, the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in 2021, marking the end of America's longest war.

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