The relationship that the United States has with Afghanistan is complicated to say the least. It has been nicknamed “America’s longest war” by many. It started in 2001 after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 by Al-Qaeda. Today, Afghanistan has been taken over once again by the Taliban after the United States spent trillions of dollars at war and many American military personnel were killed. 

Who are the Taliban? The word Taliban means students, and when the group first formed in the early 1990s, it called itself Islamic purists and Afghan patriots, according to the New York Times.

The United States also wasn’t the only country involved in Afghanistan at one point. The Soviet Union and Great Britain have been involved to varying degrees. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 but left due to a defeat by a group of Islamic fighters called the Mujahideen. After the Soviet Union left Afghanistan, thus began a civil war between different groups wanting to take control – one of which became the Taliban. 

Great Britain led a joint mission alongside the United States during the 2001 invasion after 9/11. The United States launched the initial mission in Afghanistan because the Taliban harbored the terrorist organization responsible for 9/11, Al-Qaeda. 

This year, the 20-year-long war in Afghanistan was scheduled to end, and United States military personnel were to be pulled out entirely from the country. Since then, many were surprised at the speed of the military takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban. 

“We’ve seen that that force has been unable to defend the country, and that has happened more quickly than we anticipated,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN in mid-August. 

Since the Taliban have taken over the country, there has been a rush of Afghan and American people fleeing the country as over 3,000 U.S. troops were sent overseas to facilitate the evacuations. 

Many women are afraid that their rights will be taken by the Taliban’s rule and that the harsh tactics they used during their rule prior to the United States’ interference will return. The situation is still rapidly unfolding, and for now, there seems to be peaceful transitions. The United States had been in contact with the Taliban and negotiated for safe evacuations, attempting to ease some tensions. It’s unknown what the Taliban will do next or for how long their rule will last, but until then, they are the authority in Afghanistan after the country’s president fled.