We're there because after 911 the Taliban refused to hand over the people responsible for the attack. They sheltered Al-Qaeda and provided a location for them to organize and launch attacks on the west. Once on the ground the US failed to capture Bin Laden in Tora Bora, and he was allowed to escape into the frontier provinces of Pakistan. The Americans then trusted that the Pakistanis ran by Mushareff would capture the Al-Qaeda leadership and turn them over. Which never happened, due to issues with controlling the frontier provinces and their own spy agencies. Fast forward 10ish years and NATO is trying to stabilize the country they originally drove Al-Qaeda from. If they fail to put a strong central government in place they risk letting the country fall back into Taliban control, which would allow Bin Laden and friends a safe place to operate from. Also there is a desire to limit the amount of heroine filtering into the west by controlling the poppy cultivation. Lets not forget the Taliban destroyed a few thousands years worth of priceless artifacts with RPGs because they arent Islamic enough for them to tolerate. The brand of Islam pushed by these guys is the furthest from moderate and runs counter to what was preached in the Quran.
So you asked why we are there??
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