By Kenneth Atisele
American warplanes began bombing the country on Oct. 7, 2001, less than a month after the 9/11 attacks. Their goal was to drive the ruling Taliban from power, after they had given sanctuary inside the country to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, which plotted the terror strikes and that was accomplished in November 2011.
The U.S. and its allies have remained in the country since then, trying to build up Afghan military and police forces to defend the country without outside help.
