After almost 20 years of war, the United States has finally left Afghanistan. The Taliban has officially taken full control of Afghanistan after defeating the United States. Evacuations began in early August before the Taliban had taken over Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. This war has been the longest war that our country has ever been involved in and now it has come to an end. Yet questions remain about who are the Taliban and how did our country get into this position.

The Taliban is a political movement that emerged in the 1990s in the Middle East. Their goal was to spread their religion and strictly enforce Islamic Law in countries that included Afghanistan. They grew quickly after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union following the Soviet-Afghan War.  The Taliban has enforced strict Islamic Law throughout the years it has been in control–including taking rights away from Afghan women. They brought terror upon the people of Afghanistan, causing anger throughout the country.

This is when the United States entered the picture in 2001. After the 9/11 attacks, President Bush demanded that the Taliban, who was in charge of Afghanistan at that time, hand over Osama Bin Laden, who was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. They then proceeded to not give him up which then led to the United States invading Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The invasion caused a war between the Taliban and the United States due to the fact that the U.S. was invading deeply into their country, causing the Taliban to lose most of their territory. This continued for years, even after the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

This cycle of violence ended in 2020 when both the Taliban and the U.S. signed a peace deal stating that U.S. troops had to leave Afghanistan within a short period of time. The final command to evacuate troops was set for August 31, 2021. This was all sped up once the Taliban took control of the capital on August 15, 2021, the same day the president of Afghanistan fled the country, giving full control to the Taliban.

Troops and civilians were quickly evacuated from the country, leading to the last plane departing Afghanistan on August 30, ending the 20-year war. This war cost many lives on both sides but it has finally come to an end.