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Afghanistan: The New Great Game?
“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”
— Confucius
It is now approaching 20 years since Operation Enduring Freedom was launched on 7th October 2001 with the announcement by President George W. Bush that airstrikes targeting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban had begun in Afghanistan. As we know this was in response to the September 11th attacks. The Operation was intent upon destroying terrorist bases and the related infrastructure, capturing and/or terminating Al-Qaida and its hierarchy and stopping all terrorist activity in Afghanistan. This was not an Operation devoted to or interested in winning hearts and minds, it was an action devoted to revenge.
After 13 years, on 28 December 2014, President Barack Obama announced the end of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. However, operations continued in Afghanistan by the United States’ military forces, both non-combat and combat but now occurred under the euphemistically titled Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. The mission now was to train,advise and assist the Afghans loyal to the government of Afghanistan to be able to hold their own against the Taliban. This was like a reverse Vietnam intervention where American advisors first began to assist the South Vietnamese government and then later a full military intervention took place.
