Instant Expert: A 9th Anniversary of the U.S. War in Afghanistan

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A boy looks at a U.S. soldier from Alpha Company, 1-22 Infantry Battalion, taking up position while on patrol in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan October 7, 2010.

REUTERS/Erik de Castro

Today, the U.S. enters its 10th year of war in Afghanistan. 

Less than a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, then-U.S. President George W. Bush boldly declared a war on terrorism. That war, officially began on October 7, 2001 when Bush said to the American public, and the world, that “On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al-Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.”

Back then, while we knew there was a clearly defined enemy: Osama bin Laden, we were still asking questions about who the Taliban were and what fighting them meant for our future with the Muslim world.

We did, however, have the foresight to predict was has become our reality: Nine years later, we are still at war in Afghanistan. There is no end in sight. We haven’t eliminated bin Laden. We are fear what will happen if we leave. And, we still have no clear picture for when that might be.

(See photos: Afghanistan: Inside the Battle for Hearts and Minds.)