Afghanistan: the US-led War 2001-2014

9/11/2001

• 19 members of al-Qaeda hijacked four civilian airplanes

• two of the planes flew into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Centre

• American Airlines Flight 77 was flown into the Pentagon

• United Airlines Flight 93 was initially flown towards Washington D.C. but was overpowered by passengers and landed in a field in Pennsylvania

• 2977 people were killed

Terrorism in Afghanistan

• Al-Qaeda under the leadership of Osama bin Laden went to Afghanistan

• the Talban provided them with safe haven

• this allowed the group to set up training camps and plan terrorist activities

4 al-Qaeda attacks on the US before 9/11

• 26 february 1993: World Trade Center bombing at leads to 6 people dead and over 1,000 people injured at the North Tower

• 7 august 1998: East African Embassy Bombings in Nairobi, Kenya and Tanzania leads to 224 people dead and over 4,500 injured

• 12 october 2000: USS Cole Bombing leads to 17 sailors dead and 39 others wounded. it was a suicide bombing.

hostility towards America in the Middle East

Al-Qaeda asserted that America became a target to be attacked due:

• the US government’s support to Israel and Zionism

• military aggression against countries in the Muslim World

• sponsoring oppressive regimes

• American cultural imperialism

terrorism definition

‘deliberately and violently targeting civilians for political purposes’ -Richardson, 2007

operation Enduring Freedom

2001-2014

objectives:

• remover the Taliban from power

• destroy Al-Qaeda’s network in Afghanistan

• capture or kill Osama bin Laden

results:

• heavy US aerial bombardment

• Kabul fell quickly

Assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud

9 september 2001

• commander of the Northern Alliance

• assassinated by al-Qaeda operatives

• was a serious blow to anti-Taliban resistance

ultimatum leads to the invasion of Afghanistan

7 october 2001

• aimed to “deliver to the United States… all the leaders of al-Qaeda who hide” in Afghanistan -President Bush

• Mullah Omar: “we will not hand over bin Laden without proof of his involvement in the attacks”

• Operation Enduring Freedom was launched with support from the UK, other NATO allies and the Northern Alliance

Taliban Falls

13 november 2001

• Hamid Karzai was appointed the head of the interim government in December

• bin Laden escapes during the Battle of Tora Bora

• the Bonn Agreement (5 december 2001): outlined the political process for establishing a new Afghan gov

Afghan Interim Administration

22 december 2001

goals:

• security

• reconstruction

• prepare for the Grand Assembly to elect a transitional gov and draft a new constitution

operation Anaconda

march 2002

• first major ground assault and largest operation since Tora Bora

• 2,000 US troops and 1,000 Afghan troops battle the militants

Battle at Tora Bora

november 30- december 17, 2001

• fought at a cave complex in Tora Bora

Rumsfield v Karzai on stability

Rumsfield in may 2003: “we are at a point where we clearly have moved from major combat activity to a period of stability”

Hamid Karzai 2006: “we are facing problems in providing security, good governance and fighting corruption”

Afghanistan War Stalemate 2002-2009

• Taliban regroups and begins an insurgency against the US and NATO

• Afghan gov was plagued by corruption and inefficiencies

Obama Recommits to Afghanistan

• had plans to send 17,000 more troops to the war zone

• as of january 2009, the Pentagon had 37,000 troops in Afghanistan

Invasion of Iraq

20 march 2003

consequences for Afghanistan:

• US resources and attention was divided to Iraq after the invasion

• Taliban attacks increased by 400% by 2006

• “the invasion of Iraq was a disaster for the Afghan mission, siphoning off resources and attention” -Richard Holbrooke

counter-insurgency 2003-2009

the Taliban regroups in rural areas and across the border in Pakistan and try to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the Afghan population

2005 Afghani Elections

six million Afghans turn out to vote for the Council of People and Council of Elders and local councils. it was considered the most democratic election ever held in Afghanistan, with close to half of the voters being women

President Obama

• he was compelled to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan after George W. Bush could not

• he authorised the deployment of 17,000 additional troops in February 2009. 4,000 were deployed by the end of March

• he aimed to help the president of Afghanistan (Karzai) solidify his presidential power and strengthen the fighting capacity of Afghan troops

• he proclaimed the added troops would be back in the US by September 2012. initially all troops would be withdrawn by 2014 but a meeting with Karzai changed this so that some forces would stay there

Obama’s troop surge

• US troop levels peaked at around 100,000 in 2010

• “our combat mission in Afghanistan is ending, and the longest war in American history is coming to a responsible conclusion”

controversies in the Afghanistan War

• civilian casualties became a major issue → ‘every civilian casualty diminishes our cause’ said General Stanley McChrystal ISAF Commander 2009

• night raids and drone strikes targeted Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders but often led to civilian casualties

• detention practices were criticised for alleged human rights abuses after the deaths of two Afghan detainees at Bagram Air Base in 2002. this led to investigations and criticism of US military practices

Assassination of Osama Bin Laden

2 october 2011

• Operation Neptune Spear, Abbottabad, Pakistan