Conflating:
1) the hideout of some rogue Saudis who architected 9-11, and the search for them.
2) regime change (we all saw those Bimini Buddhas blown up and heard about how bad the Taliban were treating women etc.)
3) occupation (hard work. requires physical presence)
into one big ball of 20 year mud that just doesn't have a tractable conclusion without a clear
1) plan
2) a ton more money
3) locals assuming power vacuums we create and owning it.
It was a failed state before the US arrived, arguably, and the Taliban represent a local power that organically had arrived at the stature it arrived at.
The NATO coalition had a limited mandate from most countries and it was largely driven by post 9-11 solidarity, and largely squandered any goodwill by the time Bush and Cheney invaded Iraq for no reason.
The Afghan adventure arguably broke the Soviet Union more than any occidental efforts. The writing was on the wall before the US arrived there.
If a child can see that there's no clear goal to the war, no clear point of winning that can be determined, then it's probably not very sound, conceptually.
(aka, if you invade a faraway country it can only be held by your people moving there and keeping a large physical presence there. See what happened to the Mongol Empire the minute the Golden Horde moved on... the only remaining vestiges were things of use to the subjugated peoples like the Yam and the Yass)
Basically, a muddled war with no clear strategy or even goal was only ever going to end this way...
Yes, the wars were long and problem riddled, the local governments corrupt and their version of democracy was different. But you don’t change a culture that quickly.
The US occupation of Japan also lasted a couple of decades but there were real, lasting improvements in our society. Despite the efforts of the current nationalist government, they haven’t been able to subvert the constitution that McDouglas made. [0]
0: https://www.cfr.org/japan-constitution/japans-postwar-consti...