Zach McElroy, Jordan Townsend, & Eliza Velasquez

A group called the Taliban controlled most of Afghanistan since During that time, the Taliban let a group called Al-Qaeda make training camps in Afghanistan.

On September 11, 2001 almost 3,000 people died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Osama Bin Laden was believed to be the master mind behind the attacks. He was also head of the Al-Qaeda group. In November of that year, American and British armed forces came and overthrew Afghanistan. This started the war with Afghanistan that is still going on.

Generally, the American public just wants the troops out of there now. However, our troops being in Afghanistan protects us from attacks from Al-Qaeda.

Americans want troops back home, but bringing our soldiers home puts us at risk of more attacks. Prior to 2001, Al-Qaeda was under no pressure. They conducted 3 attacks the African embassy bombings in August of 1998, the attack against the U.S.S. Cole in October of 2000, and then the attacks of September Americas view is obviously against war, but we want peace so if having troops in Afghanistan is preventing attacks then they should stay there.

In 2012, almost exactly one year after Osama Bin Laden’s assassination, Obama made a visit to Afghanistan. He discussed America’s intentions of transitioning from a combat role to a training, giving advice, aid role. Obama wanted all troops removed from Afghanistan by the end of 2012, but today there are still 68,000 troops there. New reports say that pentagon wants to keep between 6,000-20,000 troops there until 2024.

“But since we invaded Afghanistan in November of 2001, Al Qaeda has been unable to attack core American assets, let alone to strike in our homeland. The lesson is clear: if Al Qaeda central is left alone, they can organize strategic attacks. Under pressure, they cannot.” -Daily News

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