The United States in Afghanistan: A Historical Perspective

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By Adam Tufts

On September 11, 2001, grief and despair swept the United States following the deadliest terrorist attack in American history. Unfortunately, the tragedy would not end there; after this devastating disaster, the United States would engage in conflicts within Afghanistan that would span over two decades. However,  the United States long-waged war against terrorism in the Middle East may soon come to a close, with President Biden announcing plans to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021— the twentieth anniversary of the catastrophe that shook the world. 

After the two commercial airliners struck the Twin Towers in New York City and killed almost 3,000 individuals, Americans were enraged and sought justice. The United States directed this unifying feeling of anguish and frustration towards combating the perpetrators of the attack. These assailants operated under the name of Al-Qaeda, a terrorist group led by Osama Bin Laden who was protected by the Taliban, Afghanistan’s ruling faction. Less than a month after the attack, the United States began bombing raids in Afghanistan. 

“These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime,” said President Bush in an October 7, 2001 address following several strikes against military installations and communication centers in Afghanistan.

By the end of 2001, the Taliban had largely been driven from power, despite Osama bin Laden having managed to evade capture. For the next two years an interim government was established, prominently led by the Northern Alliance, a group of major Afghan factions. President Bush and the United Nations Security Council spearheaded efforts to instill governmental order in Afghan society. 

“By helping to build an Afghanistan that is free from this evil and is a better place in which to live, we are working in the best traditions of George Marshall,” said President Bush in a speech at the Virginia Military Institute, evoking the post-World War II Marshall Plan that revived Western Europe. 

Then, in January of 2004 a delegation of 502 Afghans drafted a new constitution for Afghanistan, creating a strong presidential system intended to unite the country’s diverse ethnic groups. In the period between 2004 and 2006 a series of elections were conducted to concretize the democratic advancements made in the Afghani political sphere.

Despite a string of successful elections, in the summer of 2006 the Taliban waged a violent resurgence, periodically bombing and creating chaos in the otherwise peaceful society. In the face of this national strife that pervaded Afghanistan, Bush pushed an interventionist agenda until the final days of his presidency, characterizing the United States as an international disciplinarian. 

2008 brought regime change in Washington D.C., with newly elected President Barack Obama promising to bring American troops home from Afghanistan. Despite his campaign promise to retract most American soldiers from Afghanistan by 2011, he instead recommits to the anti-terrorism efforts being led in Afghanistan. As of January 2009, the Pentagon had 37,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan. Particularly in his first term, Obama continued developing the United States’ reputation as a global humanitarian, in a strikingly similar manner to Bush. 

In May 2011, almost a decade into the Afghanistan war, American troops managed to assassinate Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a Pakistani compound. Osama bin Laden’s death fueled a long-simmering debate about continuing the Afghanistan war. As tensions climaxed in both the United States and in Afghanistan, Obama prepared to announce the withdrawal of most, if not all, of the thirty-thousand surge troops positioned in Afghanistan in July. His efforts, however, were questioned by congressional lawmakers who continued to puzzle over whether or not military engagement in the Middle East should be continued. 

Periodic and violent outbreaks led by Taliban militants influenced Obama to maintain the American military presence in Afghanistan. On May 27, 2014 Obama finally announced an official timetable for withdrawing most U.S. forces from Afghanistan by 2016. The plan failed to come to full fruition and most troops remained in Afghanistan, with a few thousand managing to return to the United States. 

President Trump’s election in 2016 ushered in a new era of international policy. Differentiating his policy from Obama’s, Trump said decisions about withdrawal will be based on “conditions on the ground,” rather than arbitrary timelines. He hoped to remove as many Americans from Afghanistan as possible, while still preventing a vacuum of governmental control, in which terrorist operations thrive. 

Throughout his presidency Trump more or less kept true to his campaign promises, at least in regards to international policy, and retracted most of the surge troops stationed in Afghanistan. By 2020 only a few thousand Americans were still deployed in Afghanistan. Trump invigorated nationalist and isolationist sentiments that had largely been dormant over the past two presidencies. He advocated for “America first” policies that disincentivized international humanitarian aid, in favor of promoting the American economy.

Now, as the United States readjusts to a Biden presidency, Americans are left wondering: what does this mean for the Afghanistan conflicts? Fortunately, Biden has explicitly expressed how he hopes to withdraw all American surge troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021. The details of his plan remain unclear; however, considering the United States’ heavy involvement in Afghani politics since 2001, this policy move is likely to mark a momentous transition in American international affairs. While Biden’s agenda is littered with both interventionist and isolationist elements, his main goal is to reframe the United States’ image on the geopolitical stage. Thus, while the American public and presidencies have difficulties compromising on specific international policy moves, one thing remains certain: Americans are eager for violence to end, no matter where the violence takes place.