US Post 9/11 Objectives and Policy in Afghanistan: A Tale of Persistent Failures

The unfortunate land of Afghanistan became the target of the US’s anger over her failure to keep her homeland secure from attacks on twin towers on September 11, 2001. The US launched war on terror and attacked Afghanistan on October 07, 2001 and left Afghanistan in September 2021 with many failures in her credit. During these two decades, the US spent more than a trillion dollars, overtly tried to ‘build’ an Afghan nation, develop national institutions, counter the insurgents, smoothen electoral politics, ensure respect for human rights and stop the insurgency, i.e., the Taliban from taking control of Kabul throne again. Nevertheless, covert objectives of the US’s presence in Afghanistan were to enhance influence in the South Asian region, control the ‘Cockpit of Asia’, keep eye on resurgent Russia, the ‘rogue’ state of Iran, nuclear armed Pakistan and encircle rising China. The chronicles and media reports of these two decades prove that the US has terribly failed to achieve its overt or covert goals regardless of lavish expenditures and shedding the blood of innocent civilians and destroying the peace and stability in the region. This chapter will discuss the aforementioned policies of the US and its impacts and failures in Afghanistan in detail.