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The U.S. war on Afghanistan, under the name of “War on Terror” is a brutal attack on a country that has already been almost destroyed by more than 20 years of foreign invasion and civil war. The death and destruction wrought by the U.S. bombing campaign has killed hundreds and produced thousands of more refugees scrambling to escape into Pakistan.
In 1979, the Soviet Union launched an invasion of the country in order to prop up a pro-communist regime in Kabul. Under such circumstances, the United States and Pakistan played leading roles in backing various Afghan guerrilla forces, known collectively as "Mujahideen" (religious warriors), which gradually wore down the Soviet occupying forces. However, Afghanistan's civil war continued after a Soviet pullout in 1989 as various Mujahideen factions fought to fill the power vacuum. In the past four years, a newer group of Mujahideen called the Taliban had gained control of most of Afghanistan. The movement got a significant boost from the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, which reportedly provided extensive organizational, logistical, and material support to the Taliban militia. The core leadership of the Taliban is from the Pashtun ethnic group, the largest single group in Afghanistan but still a minority of the population.
The Taliban captured the Afghan capital, Kabul, in 1996, and then took control of all but the Panjshir Valley and other smaller areas in northern Afghanistan. They had imposed a highly restrictive form of Islamic law throughout Afghanistan which Muslims and non-Muslim observers had described as inhumane. The Taliban promised to put an end to the factional warfare that had claimed thousands of lives in the years following the defeat of the country's Soviet puppet government in 1991. But the Taliban regime did not get time to fulfil their commitments. Less than two months after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States and its allies had ousted the Taliban regime which had refused to hand over Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. He fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the Afghans against the Soviet Union and who was a hero of the 'jihad' found a haven in Taliban-dominated Afghanistan. The Taliban's elite brigade was trained in Bin Laden's camps, and is believed to be loyal to the terrorist's "Al Qaida" movement. And the U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO troops have remained in Afghanistan since 2001, but their presence has only worsened the condition of Afghanistan. This, coupled with frustrations about the central government's failure to follow through with promises of development, created an environment for the Taliban to regain its influence. Since the Taliban have been taking out their frustration and anger by continuous attacks on the U.S. and NATO forces, in response to which these forces are bombarding the whole country killing thousands of innocent people. Thus even after seven years of the attacks on the World Trade Centre, Afghanistan is still the frontline of the US-led “war on terror” with extremist unrest intensifying and a new focus on Pakistan’s tribal areas. But today bin Laden is still on the run, the Taliban have regrouped – notably in the south and in border tribal areas of Pakistan – while the government in Kabul struggles to assert its authority. After the Taliban had seized power and control in the country several human rights activists and feminist groups had been lobbying the American government for some time regarding the repressive Taliban regime. Until they wanted to get Osama, the American government had paid little attention to the human rights abuses of the Taliban. Suddenly, justification for a military strike against the Taliban was found through the anti-Taliban human rights lobbyists and America went to war to free the Afghanis from the oppressive Taliban and destroy Bin Laden’s terrorist network. In the pursuing weeks leading up the invasion of Afghanistan, a plethora of new ‘evidence’ was produced, sometimes evidence which seemed completely contradictory, all pointing to and proving Bin Laden and his ‘network’ were responsible for the terrorist attacks in the US and the compliance of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. As American diplomacy was seeking endorsement of the invasion of Afghanistan amongst the world community shifted into ‘overdrive’ and when it seemed to fail President Bush adopted a more aggressive and polemical ‘with us or against us’ rhetoric as he declared a ‘crusade’ against terrorism. Within a few months America declared its operation a success and it declared the demise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It soon began talking about rebuilding Afghanistan and establishing democracy. But somehow efforts are still seen going in vain. Recently, the U.S. Commander in Afghanistan, General Jeffrey Schloesser, called for extra soldiers, warning of a possible winter offensive by the Taliban and predicted that the militants were preparing “spectacular attacks”. Since Americans have categorically declared Northern Areas of Pakistan as the safe havens that provide launching pads for these sorts of attacks. However, concerns have grown globally regarding growing civilian casualties after US bombings and attacks, and the difficulty of winning “hearts and minds” as Afghans tend to grow weary of reports of civilians killed in error by military air strikes. An Afghan investigation found that one such strike in the west of the country killed more than 90 civilians. The US military has said only five to seven civilians were killed along with 30-35 Taliban, but later agreed to reopen an inquiry. Human Rights Watch also mentioned in a recent released report that the number of Afghan civilians killed by air strikes had tripled between 2006 and 2007, from 116 to 321. And nearly 200 were killed by foreign troops, including during air strikes, in the first seven months of this year only. The killings are alienating locals and helping the Taliban to recruit in Afghanistan. Moreover, have fuelled public anger across Afghanistan and driven a wedge between the government and its western backers. After serious reaction from the innocent natives, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has requested an investigation into a series of U.S. air military strikes aimed at Taliban militants that have also killed simple villagers. Karzai has shown concern at the coalition forces' decision to bomb civilian areas while condemning what he called the "terrorists' act of cowardice" in sheltering themselves in the houses of innocent villagers. He further added, “We also want the weaponry in this war to be targeted at the terrorists properly ... to be aimed at the right place". "I don't want Afghan casualties. The war on terrorism is not in Afghan villages. It is in the sanctuaries of terrorists, at the training ground of terrorists, at the financial resources of terrorists." Though by using the phrase "Sanctuaries of terrorists" he clearly referred to Pakistan and its tribal border areas where militants find safe haven. Karzai's domestic popularity has been plummeting, in part because of disillusionment over the country's slow pace of recovery and continuing violence nearly seven years after the fundamentalist Taliban movement was toppled in a U.S.-led invasion. With an election planned next year, the Afghan leader has sought to distance himself from some actions by Western troops who are battling an increasingly powerful insurgency and inadvertently causing growing numbers of civilian deaths. Though he assured villagers that those responsible for civilian deaths will be punished but a mere sentence is not enough to pacify their grief and suffering. The so called battle aimed against terrorism was one of the largest in terms of combatant and civilian casualties since coalition forces arrived in Afghanistan. Thus analyzing the present condition of the devastated country it forces one to imagine the severe suffering of the common Afghans who have no future ahead of them. Their kids still can’t think of holding a pencil in their hands instead of guns. This means, no matter what the outcome, the war is certain to lay the grounds for more "blowbacks" in the future, therefore it must end now. 
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