War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

In November of 2006, the U.N. Security Council warned that Afghanistan may become a failed state due to increased Taliban violence, growing illegal drug production, and fragile State institutions. In 2006, Afghanistan was rated 10th on the failed states index, up from 11th in 2005. As of 2008, Afghanistan is ranked 8th on the failed state index. From 2005 to 2006, the number of suicide attacks, direct fire attacks, and improvised explosive devices all increased. Declassified intelligence documents show that Al Qaeda, Taliban, Haqqani Network and Hezb-i-Islami sanctuaries have increased fourfold over the last year in Afghanistan. The campaign in Afghanistan successfully unseated the Taliban from power, but has been significantly less successful at achieving the primary policy goal of ensuring that Al-Qaeda can no longer operate in Afghanistan.

International reactions
French troops as part of ISAF in Kabul.
International support
Further information: Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan: Allies, Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2006, and Afghanistan War order of battle
The first wave of attacks were carried out solely by American and British forces. Since the initial invasion period, these forces were augmented by troops, main battle tanks (Canadian and Danish), artillery (British, Canadian and Dutch) and aircraft from Australia, Canada, Spain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway amongst others. In 2006, there were about 33,000 troops in Afghanistan.

The International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is an international stabilization force authorized by the United Nations Security Council on December 20, 2001. As of 5 October 2006, ISAF was consisting of about 32,000 personnel of 34 nations.

On July 31, 2006, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force assumed command of the south of the country, and by October 5, 2006, also of the east Afghanistan.

Diplomatic efforts
Meetings of various Afghan leaders were organized by the United Nations and took place in Germany. The Taliban was not included. These meetings produced an interim government and an agreement to allow a United Nations peacekeeping force to enter Afghanistan. The UN resolutions of 14 November 2001, included "Condemning the Taliban for allowing Afghanistan to be used as a base for the export of terrorism by the Al-Qaida network and other terrorist groups and for providing safe haven to Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida and others associated with them, and in this context supporting the efforts of the Afghan people to replace the Taliban regime"

The UN resolution 20 December 2001, "Supporting international efforts to root out terrorism, in keeping with the Charter of the United Nations, and reaffirming also its resolutions 1368 (2001) of 12 September 2001 and 1373 (2001) of 28 September 2001."

Humanitarian efforts
A USAF C-17 Globemaster returns to base from a humanitarian drop. Before the U.S.-led invasion, there were fears that the invasion and resultant disruption of services would cause widespread starvation and refugees.

The United Nations World Food Program temporarily suspended activities within Afghanistan at the beginning of the bombing attacks but resumed them after the fall of the Taliban.

Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS), an affiliate of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), continued to move ahead with rehabilitation and relief activities, maintaining its operations despite the crisis and the closure of various of Afghanistan's borders. During 2001, it provided food and other assistance to over 450,000 people in Afghanistan, delivering 1,400 tons of food to approximately 50,000 internally displaced and vulnerable populations by the end of September, 2001. By October 2001, it had distributed over 10,000 tons of food in Badakshan, with another 4,000 tons on its way for distribution to vulnerable people in high altitude areas in the province. FOCUS had also established an agricultural program  through grass-roots village organizations in the province that they estimated could produce up to 30,000 tons of cereals annually.

By November 1, U.S. C-17s flying at 30,000 feet (10,000 m) had dropped 1,000,000 food and medicine packets marked with an American flag.

Protests, demonstrations and rallies
Several small protests occurred in various cities and college campuses across the United States and in other countries in the first days after the start of the bombing campaign. These were mainly peaceful but larger protests and general strikes occurred in Pakistan, a previous Taliban ally. Some of these were suppressed by police with casualties among the protesters. In both Islamic and non-Islamic nations, protests and rallies of various sizes against the attack on Afghanistan took place. Many protesters felt that the attack on Afghanistan was unjustified aggression. Some believed it would lead to the deaths of many innocent people by preventing humanitarian aid workers from bringing food into the country.

Public opinion
In October 2001, polls indicated that about 88% of Americans backed the war in Afghanistan versus 12% who disapproved. In the UK, 65% also backed military action. A Gallup poll in August 2007 showed that 70% of Americans believed that the U.S. did not make a mistake in sending military forces to Afghanistan while 25% believed that it did. In a poll conducted in August 2007, 51% of Canadians were supporting the decision to send peacekeeping troops to Afghanistan, and 45% of Canadians opposed it. In a December 2007 poll, 67% of Afghans supported NATO's mission in the country.

Main article: Civilian casualties of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
According to Marc W. Herold's Dossier on Civilian Victims of United States' Aerial Bombing at least 3,700 and probably closer to 5,000 civilians were killed as a result of U.S. bombing. Herold's study omitted those killed indirectly, when air strikes cut off their access to hospitals, food or electricity. Also exempt were bomb victims who later died of their injuries. When there were different casualty figures from the same incident, in 90% of cases Professor Herold chose a lower figure

Some people, however, dispute Herold's estimates. Joshua Muravchik of the American Enterprise Institute and Carl Conetta of the Project on Defense Alternatives question Herold's  heavy use of the Afghan Islamic Press (the Taliban's official mouthpiece) and claim tallies provided them were suspicious. Conetta also claims statistical errors in Herold's study.  Conetta's study puts total civilian casualties between 1,000 and 1,300. A Los Angeles Times study put the number of collateral dead between 1,067 and 1,201

Drug trade
Further information: Opium production in Afghanistan
In 2000, the Taliban had issued a ban on opium production, which led to reductions in Pashtun Mafia opium production by as much as 90%. Soon after the 2001 US led invasion of Afghanistan, however, opium production increased markedly. By 2005, Afghanistan had regained its position as the world’s #1 opium producer and was producing 90% of the world’s opium, most of which is processed into heroin and sold in Europe and Russia. While US and allied efforts to combat the drug trade have been stepped up, the effort is hampered by the fact that many suspected drug traffickers are now top officials in the Karzai government. In fact, recent estimates by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimate that 52% of the nation's GDP, amounting to $2.7 billion annually, is generated by the drug trade. The rise in production has been linked to the deteriorating security situation, as production is markedly lower in areas with stable security. The poppy eradication policy propagated by the international community and in particular the United States, as part of their War on Drugs, has been a failure, exacerbated by the lack of alternative development projects to replace livelihoods lost as a result of poppy eradication. Rather than stemming poppy cultivation, poppy eradication has succeeded only in adding to the extreme poverty in rural areas and general discontent, especially in the south of Afghanistan. Several alternatives to poppy eradication have been proposed, including controlled opium licensing for poppy for medicine projects.

Human rights abuses
There have been multiple accounts of human rights violations in Afghanistan. The fallout of the U.S. led invasion, including a resurgence in Taliban forces, record-high drug production, and re-armed warlords, has led to a threat to the well-being and rights of hundreds of thousands of innocent Afghan citizens, according to Human Rights Watch.

History of human rights abuses in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has suffered extensive human rights violations over the last twenty years. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan brought mass killings, torture, and a landscape littered with land mines. The subsequent civil war, brought extensive abuses by the armed factions vying for power. The Taliban rose to power in 1996 and ruled Afghanistan until the U.S. attacks in 2001. They were notorious for their human rights abuses against women.

Taliban
The increase in Taliban power has led to increased human rights violations against women in Afghanistan, according to the US State Department. According to Amnesty International, the Taliban commit war crimes by targeting civilians, including by killing teachers, abducting aid workers and burning school buildings. Amnesty International said that up to 756 civilians were killed in 2006 by bombs, mostly on roads or carried by suicide attackers belonging to the Taliban.

Former Afghan warlords
Former Afghan warlords and political strongmen were responsible for numerous human rights violations in 2003 including kidnapping, rape, robbery, and extortion.

Controversy over torture
In March 2002, it is said that top officials at the CIA authorized controversial, harsh interrogation techniques. The Bush administration declared that al-Qaeda members captured on the battlefield were not subject to the Geneva Conventions as it was not a conventional war, as set by the convention. Amnesty International stated on April 26, 2007, that a new deal to let Canadian officials visit enemy detainees in Afghanistan is aimed more at saving political face than keeping prisoners safe.

The possible interrogation techniques included shaking and slapping, shackling prisoners in a standing position, keeping the prisoner in a cold cell and dousing them with water, and water boarding. The U.S. operated a secret prison in Kabul where these techniques are claimed to have been employed.

Cases of detainee abuse
In the Bagram torture and prisoner abuse case, two prisoners were chained to the ceiling and beaten to death. As of November 15, 2005, 15 U.S. soldiers were prosecuted with small fines.

Abdul Wali died on June 21, 2003, at a base near Asadabad. He was allegedly beaten by former Army Ranger and CIA contractor David Passaro, who was arrested on June 17, 2004, on four counts of assault and murder.

On September 24, 2006, Craig Pyes of the LA Times published results of a co-investigation with non-profit organization Crimes of War Project, proposing that 10 members of ODA 2021 of the 1/20th Special Forces Group (Airborne) of the Alabama National Guard during the last month of their tour in early 2003 at a base in Gardez had tortured a peasant and shot to death Jamal Naseer, an 18 year-old recruit of the Afghan National Army.
 

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