Name: Wayne Cole

Assignment Name: Essay 2

What did I do? (Looking Back)

I analyzed the foreign policy on the “War on Terror”, that recently the U.S had decided to end.

How is it significant?

This was significant because it marks a major turning point in a war that resulted in failure in many people’s eyes. With Americans making connections to the Vietnam war.

When have I done this kind of work before? Where could I use this again?

I have done this kind of work in AP History classes where I had to analyze certain aspects of history to formulate a response to a question as it related to that particular time in history. I could use this again when I have to research a topic that I have minimal knowledge of in order to grasp my thoughts and receive a history and understanding of what I am researching.

Do I see any patterns or relationships in what I did? (what’s happening now, Present)

I see that now that many countries have gone down the same road as the U.S when it comes to influencing other countries by military force, Russia has done it to Afghanistan and as of recently China has begun to dig roots in Afghanistan through deals with the Taliban.

How well did I do? What worked? What do I need to improve?

Overall I think that I did well on this essay, my summarization of my sources worked well. I believe that I could improve on diction.

What should I do next? What’s my plan? (Looking forward, Future) Next I will keep this information stored for future references and recount the war that took place in Afghanistan. My plan is to use this essay to gain knowledge on how I can improve as a writer.

Wayne Cole

Comp I 993

10/05/21

“War on Terror: U.S Pulls Out of Afghanistan”

After the withdrawal of all United States troops from Afghanistan the Biden administration is under heavy criticism. The U.S has been involved in the “War on Terror” for twenty years, with the objective of dismantling terror organizations, establishing democracy, and ensuring peace to the region. However, the United States has decided to withdraw all military forces and citizens out of Afghanistan to bring an eruptive end to the fighting of U.S military forces against terror organizations, but was the “War on Terror” worth the fight of the American people?

Afghanistan, during the 1980s, was under Soviet invasion, but in 1989 the war between the Soviets and Islamic fighters, who declared jihad, came to an end with the Soviets suffering a crushing defeat. During the war Al-Qaeda was formed and was headed by a wealthy, Islamic extremist; Osama Bin Laden, the organization was a major reason why Afghanistan won the war. In the 1990s Al-Qaeda bombed multiple U.S embassies and military bases/vessels, causing pressure from the United States to exile Al-Qaeda from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, leaving them to settle in Afghanistan under sanctuary from the Taliban, who in the 1990s controlled the Afghan government, here Al-Qaeda would continue operations of removal of all foreign and secular influences in Muslim countries (Laub-Maizland). During an interview conducted in 1997 by CNN’s Peter Arnett Osama is seen giving reasoning as to why he has declared jihad on the United States. Even giving a chilling Statement when asked what his future plans were Osama stated, “You will see them and hear about them in the media…. God willing” (Laub-Maizland).

September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, also known as 9/11, was a series of four coordinated attacks by nineteen Al-Qaeda terrorists. Four commercial airliners were hijacked with one of the four planes heading for the north or south World Trade Center, Pentagon, and either the White House or U.S Capital. All destinations were successful except for United Airlines Flight 93, where the passengers attempted to regain control and caused the plane to divert and crash into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The result of these terrorist attacks were 2,977 fatalities, over 25,000 injuries, and substantial infrastructure and property damage (Laub-Maizland). On September 18, seven days after the attacks, President George W. Bush signed into law the joint resolution, outlining, and authorizing the use of force against those responsible for the 9/11 attacks (Laub-Maizland). The joint resolution law would later be cited as rationale for the “War on Terror”, a term that referred to an international military campaign launched by the U.S government following the September 11 attacks.

In less than six months following the joint resolution law that Bush signed into law the Taliban regime unraveled rapidly. The Taliban, losing key battles in Afghanistan, retreated to hiding. Effectively losing control of the country and Osama Bin Laden fleeing to Pakistan.

With the Taliban now in hiding the United Nations(U.N) passed “Resolution 1378”, allowing for a transitional government and an invitation for member states to send peacekeeping forces to promote stability and give aid (Laub-Maizland). The United States began to change its vision on the objective of “War on Terror” and President Bush called for the reconstruction of Afghanistan (Laub-Maizland). Reconstruction would implement democratic processes and insure that Afghanistan would not produce a new threat to the U.S. This reconstruction period for Afghanistan would bring a constitution, an election for a new President, and a new agreement between the U.S and Afghanistan as strategic partners in the “War on Terror” all within the span of 2004 to 2005 (Laub-Maizland). However, this new change in government was not enough to ward off the resurgence of terrorist organizations.

On October 29, 2004 Osama Bin Laden resurfaced from hiding after releasing a video message taunting the Bush administration and took direct responsibility for the September 11 attacks (Laub-Maizland). Violence increased across the country in the following years with increased suicide attacks and remotely detonated bombings. In 2009, President Barack Obama announced plans to recommit seventeen thousands more troops to Afghanistan with the goal of stopping the resurgence of the Taliban and foreign fighters from crossing the Afghan-Pakistan border (Laub-Maizland). This new strategy did produce results, Osama Bin Laden was killed on May 1, 2011, in a raid on his compound in Pakistan by U.S military forces (Laub-Maizland).

The death of Osama prompted a new plan from the Obama administration to outline the withdrawal of thirty thousand troops by the summer of 2012 (Laub-Maizland). Americans were in disapproval of the “forever war”, as many saw no reason to remain in the region (Laub-Maizland). The major goals of the United States government were fulfilled and justice carried out, Americans wanted their service members out of harm's way. So in 2014 President Obama announced a timetable for withdrawing most U.S forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2016 (Laub-Maizland). Alongside the United States planned withdrawal the United Nations planned to relieve security to the region over to the Afghan forces effectively leaving the military presence in the region to the Afghan government (Laub-Maizland). After President Trump is elected into office, in 2017, he outlines his Afghanistan policy that the U.S will press ahead with an open ended military commitment, but the decision to withdraw will be based on conditions on the ground. In the following years the United States and the Taliban were in peace talks, ultimately signing an agreement that the U.S will withdraw troops and guarantee that Afghanistan would not be used for terrorist activities. Following this agreement intra-Afghan peace talks began to take place between the government and the Taliban in 2020 (Laub-Maizland). The seeds for the Taliban takeover were already being planted early in the year, showing that the Taliban were gaining influence in the region (Laub-Maizland).

U.S Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller planned to halve the number of troops in Afghanistan to twenty five hundred by mid January, days before President-Elect Joe Biden would be inaugurated (Laub-Maizland). Now President Biden set the full withdrawal of all U.S forces and citizens from Afghanistan to September 11, 2021. Soon after the departure of U.S forces the Afghan government collapsed (Laub-Maizland). The Taliban fighters claimed land all the way to the Capital in a matter of weeks. Leaving the country under complete Taliban control.

The withdrawal of the United States resulted in the end of a long standing determination of the U.S to end terrorism and implement a stat of democracy within Afghanistan. The decision to pull all forces out of Afghanistan is under scrutiny from the American people taunting that the years of fighting resulted to nothing now that the U.S has no presence in Afghanistan. The “War on Terror” can not be deemed a success nor failure, with the U.S achieving the downfall of Al-Qaeda and killing Osama Bin Laden, but failing in its overarching goals of instilling democracy to the region.

Works Cited

Laub , Zachary, and Lindsay Maizland . “Timeline: U.S. War in Afghanistan.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 27 Sept. 2021, https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-war-afghanistan.

Brzezinski, Zbigniew. “Terrorized by ‘War on Terror’ .” Opinions, Washington Post, 25 Mar. 2007, http://aldeilis.net/terror/1393.pdf.

“Exclusive Osama Bin Laden - First Ever TV Interview.” YouTube, uploaded by KellyWurx, 10 Jan. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqQwnqjA-6w&feature=youtu.be.