Political Science

On the 7th of October 2001, the president of the United States launched the Operation Enduring Freedom. The military operation which was backed by coalition allies such as the United Kingdom was one of the United States governments response to the 911 terrorist attack. The attack was fueled by issues that had existed way before the attack. The major aim of the military operation was to flush out terrorist elements especially the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban which were responsible for the organized terrorist attacks which were on the increase against the Americans. Many people have however argued on the legitimacy of the attack with some arguing that the attack was uncalled for while others believe it was necessary due to the increased terrorism threats in the world. Since the attack was launched, it has had both positive and negative impacts, socially, politically and physically, in the United States, Middle East and the whole world (Miles, 2005).  

Events Leading Up To Invasion
Many events had taken place in Afghanistan before the 2001 military invasion. The Soviet Union army withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 which led to the creation of a government in Kabul in 1992. The country was ruled by the mujahideen who within a few years of their rule had started fighting against each other. This led to a formation of Taliban, an Islamic extremists movement. The movement was formed in 1994 and by 1996 it had captured Kabul and had influence in almost 90 percent of Afghanistan. The small part of the country towards north east was the only part of Afghanistan under Northern Alliance rule. It was believed that the Taliban had potentials of bringing stability in Middle East but the attempt by the international community to negotiate with the movement hit a snag due to the influence of Islamic extremist ideas in the movement. Towards the end of 1996, the Al-Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden started using the Afghanistan which was under Taliban control as their operation base. The terrorist group was able to train fighters and indoctrinate young Muslims with extremist ideas. By coordination with other jihadists movements, Al-Qaeda was able to import weapons of mass destruction and plan terrorist attacks. Before the 911 attack, the group had trained over ten thousands people in their facilities in Afghanistan.

The group was responsible for the bombing of the United States embassies in East Africa on August 1998 which prompted President Clinton to order destruction of training camps in Afghanistan. The United States government pressed on the Taliban administration to surrender Osama bin Laden which was also followed by sanctions against Taliban by the international community. The Taliban rejected the request which resulted in intensive activities in the Middle East by the Central Intelligence Agency which was aimed at tracking down Osama bin Laden. Several military operations were planned but there was no executive order from President Clinton. A day before the 911 attack on America by terrorists, President Bush and his administration had agreed on a plan to force out of power the Taliban administration in Afghanistan if they did not surrender Osama bin Laden. The Americans government had plans to give Taliban the last ultimatum which would call for military intervention against them if they failed to hand over Osama bin Laden. Some people therefore believe that the operation was planned way before the 911 attack and the United States troops could have moved to Afghanistan even if American were not attacked on September 11th (Coll, 2004).

The September 11th attack which left almost three thousand Americans dead and several thousands injured was a major trigger for Afghanistan invasion. The World Trade Center and the Pentagon were hit by civilian airliners which were simultaneously hijacked by terrorists. The attacks were organized by the Al-Qaedas leader Osama bin Laden. He was identified by President Bush as the prime suspect of the attack. The President issued an ultimatum to the Taliban to hand over Al-Qaeda leaders, release all foreigners detained in Afghanistan, protect foreign workers, close terrorist training camps and the to allow the American security agencies to access the closed  camps. The Taliban tried to shield Osama from the Bushs administration which led to the invasion. The invasion was however not authorized by the United Nations Security Council and President Bush did not declare war against Afghanistan but claimed that the Taliban army was a terrorist group which denied them protection by the Geneva Convection (Biddle, 2002).                        

Events during Invasion
After the Taliban refused to hand over the al Qaeda leaders to the American government, Bushs administration had no option but to launch a military attack. The aim of the attack was to destroy the terrorist camps in Afghanistan which were supported by the Taliban. This therefore included the attack of the Taliban administration and installation of a democratic government in Afghanistan. The CIA teams were the first to enter Afghanistan which was soon followed by the United States Army Special Forces. The group was also supported by USSOCOM and forces from the United Kingdom and Australia. They led the Northern Alliance into power by smashing the Taliban administration. The American military used different technologies to attack Kabul. By the first week of November, the Taliban army in Kabul had been defeated. The fall of Kabul meant the influence of Taliban in Afghanistan had come to an end (Cole, 2007).      

Events Following Invasion
After the Taliban were defeated in Afghanistan, the Bonn Agreement formed a democratic government where Hamid Karzai was inaugurated as the leader of Afghan interim Authority. In 2002, Karzai was chosen to be the interim President of Afghanistan. The council of elders developed the first Loya Jirga constitution in 2003 which was ratified the following year, followed by general elections. Karzai was elected the president of Afghanistan and the first national assembly since 1973 sat toward the end of the year 2005.The country is however undergoing difficult times as it tries to revive its economy due to poor infrastructures, poverty and illegal drug trade. There are still some elements of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Taliban insurgencies which threaten the stability in the Islamic republic. Reports of increased Taliban insurgencies in Afghanistan have delayed the withdrawal of the United States forces from Afghanistan where the troops were also increased in 2007. However, the increase of troops to Afghanistan has been seen to cause delays in the Afghanistans new government take over. However, President Obama has promised to withdraw all the troops from Afghanistan in the shortest time possible (Fiscus, 2004).

Political Implications
The greatest implication of the war in Afghanistan has been political. Although at first the new government seemed to be very fragile, the United States had achieved one of its goals of overthrowing the Taliban administration and installing a democratic government in Afghanistan. For the first time in history, there is a strong government in Afghanistan. Previously, the weak government led to the emergency of Taliban which gained influence in the country by promising security in a country filled with uncertainties. Through aids from international communities, proper political structures have been established and people including women have been able to vote for a democratic government. The presidential elections were held in October 2004 while the national assembly elections were held in September 2005. Many believe that the formation of stable political institutions in Middle East could be the solution to the ever growing threat of terrorist attack from the region. From the election turnout, it is clear that the people of Afghanistan give the new president and his administration the mandate. Prior to the invasion, the Taliban administration had broken all international ties between Afghanistan and the rest of the world. By the time of invasion, it is only Saudi Arabia which had some diplomatic relationship with Afghanistan. However, today the Afghanistan administration is involved in both regional and international relations. However, the government is faced with the challenge of corruption of some of its officials and the need to extend its influence allover the country. The administration is also over dependent on financial aid and financial independence has been a big challenge.

The capacity of Karzais administration to extend influence outside the capital Kabul is very limited. Most of the areas outside the capital receive low or no funding from the national kitty and thus they are very poor. This has been criticized by many people who argue that the central government in Afghanistan is theoretical and the country is ruled locally by the strongmen. This is because in most provinces, the influence of the war lords is still evident where they employ intimidation and torture to the people and many of them do not recognize the role of the central government. However, the government is gaining influence in the rural area as time goes on. Just a few months after Karzais administration had taken power in Afghanistan, he declared that corruption and illegal drugs trade was the greatest problem facing the new administration. The country was ranked third among the most corrupt country in the world in 2004. This greatly affected the new administration due to mistrust of government officials who were believed to be corrupt. Criminals who were well known to the public were given high ranks in the government despite their involvement in heroin trade and corruption. It was believed that revenue from illegal heroine trade was influencing politics in Afghanistan immediately after the new administration was installed. This was more pronounced during the parliamentary elections. The government was also faced with the responsibility of dealing with corruption in the judicial system. Appointment to the judicial system was not based on qualification but personal connection. Corruption has been also evident in the reconstruction contracts where international aid agencies have been discouraged from funding projects in the country (Wadhams, 2005).

The event that led to the establishment of stable political systems in Afghanistan has improved the image and confidence of American politicians. The attack has portrayed the Americans governance positively and negatively. Some people argued that the American politicians attacked the Taliban with an aim of introducing American ideologies in the Middle East while others think that the attack was on the best interests of the Americans and the world at large.

Sociological Implications
The implications of the war have also been psychological to both the people of Afghanistan and the military men. The psychological impacts of the war to the new generation in Afghanistan will have far reaching effects for several years. It is reported that children and women were the main victims of the military operation. This has portrayed the American military together with the allied forces as ruthless and inhumane and the force has taken years since then to build their image back among the civilians. It is indisputable that women and children are very dependent during wars which make them very vulnerable. They are subjected to not only physical torture but also psychologically and emotionally. The sudden unrest in the country, disruption of the societies and families and terrifying war scenes will always have far reaching effects on young children. Following a decade of war, the Afghanistan children are seriously affected by the psychological impacts of the unrest. It would be difficult to rehabilitate the children and justify that the Americans were justified to attack their country. The direct impact of these effects has been aggressiveness and intolerable behaviors among the children. Psychologists suggest that the innocence of the young generation has been destroyed by incidences of bombing and shouting which have been witnessed in Afghanistan over the last two decades or more.

The United States young military has also been psychologically affected by the event of the war. Although cases of physical injuries among the military men was reduced as a result of better protection equipments, a good number of the army men suffered from post trauma stress disorder. It has been reported that one in every eight military men suffer from this condition which has attracted some debate on how well the United States military was prepared for the operation. The disorder has shown more reference among the young men compared to more experienced men. Moreover, the condition has been an issue in the recent war despite its challenge in previous wars which could have been a wakeup call for the administration to ensure that the soldiers were well prepared to deal with the trauma as a result of the war. However, some of the post traumatic stress disorders have been associated with head injuries (Petras, 2009).

Physical Implications
The military attack on Afghanistan had far reaching physical impacts. The military used bombs operated from very high altitude to destroy the terrorists training camps and Taliban air defense centers. Military intelligence suspected the possible use of anti aircraft missiles by the Taliban military which were manufactured in the United States. The missile had previously been used against the Soviet Union in the 1980s where helicopters were destroyed. However, these missiles were not used and the American military did not lose any of their planes to the enemy. The American military helicopters and gunships operated in Afghanistan with impunity throughout the invasion. The air strikes focused on major cities such as Kabul where most of the Taliban defense and training camps were located. All communication systems used by the Taliban defense forces were destroyed such that they were unable to effectively communicate. The army used both the daisy cutters and AC-130 gunships to attack the Taliban military front line. The Taliban military had no prior experience of the ability of the Americans fireworks which made it easy for the Special Forces to beat them (Herold, 2002).    

Overall Analysis
The biggest implication of the war in the Middle East over the last decade has been the effect on the world economy. It has been argued that the war has been very expensive to the American budget while others argues that it has influenced the prices of fossil fuels negatively. However, the economic effects of the war in Middle East will have an impact on the American economy and Afghanistan economic recovery for along time. The clear scope of the effect of the war in the world economy may however not be easy to decode. This is due to the physical and emotional destruction that have been left by the war. The loss of soldiers in the war cannot be easily valued in monitory terms in order to determine the economic loss as a result of the war. This is also true for the long separation from the family the soldiers are subjected to, which cannot be calculated on the actuaries table.

The American government has spent over five hundred billion dollars since the war in the Middle East was launched. Some critics have tried to estimate what the money could have done at home if the attack was not launched with an aim of making sense that the attack was uncalled for and uneconomical. It is estimated that the money could have funded the social security system in the United States for over 75 years well beyond the baby boomers retirement crisis period. Members of the Nation Guard families have received tremendous tools from the government as a result of the long separation from their spouses or family members. The Nation Guard members have been sent to improve security in Middle East while security in the home cities is deteriorating. It has been argued that the American government is spending more to support injured war veterans from Middle East than it has ever done in other wars. There are a high number of marines and soldiers being flown to America everyday who need better and expensive medical care. The emotional impacts has also extended to close associates of the soldiers serving for long in the overseas and to the soldiers themselves who have to stay for years in service without seeing their loved ones (Fiscus, 2004).        

Conclusion
The United States and coalition forces invasion of Afghanistan and the Middle East is one of the historical events that happened in the modern world. The attack was triggered by the 911 terrorist attack on the Americans. However, there are evidences that the attack was planned way before the 911 attack. The attack was as a result of increased influence of autocratic leadership in Afghanistan by the Taliban and in Iraq by Saddam Hussein who encouraged the development of Muslim extremist terrorists. The invasion has had various impacts in America, Middle East and other parts of the world. However, the greatest impact has been the installation of a democratic government in Afghanistan.