The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are different in many ways, however they both are based upon a "war on terrorism". Following the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11th, 2001, the United States declared a war upon terrorism. Following this declaration, operations and invasions have been led in both Afghanistan and Iraq by the United States and other supporting countries. The motives for invading the two countries differ in several aspects, both politically and historically. The fighting in Afghanistan was a response to an attack on the United States, while the invasion of Iraq falls back on politics and lies surrounding the information supporting the invasion.
[...] Following the September 11th attack, the majority of the world was on the side of the United States, exemplified with a vigil in Iran consisting of 60,000 people. In addition, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations both voted on our behalf to invade Afghanistan. General Dostum contacted the CIA, and suggested to not invade the country in a full-front invasion, but rather to supply him with air support and his two thousand horsemen could capture Mazar-i-Sharif, and gain the right to rule Afghanistan. [...]
[...] Within the report, it already held instructions for the Pentagon to begin preparing for a war in Iraq, while the document was created on September 17th, just six days after September 11th. Donal Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz paid informants and created the Office of Special Plans to foster information and cherry-pick information that would benefit a cause to go to war with Iraq. There were also claims that Niger was supplying Iraq with uranium yellowcake, however the claims were based off of documents that had dates that didn't match up and signatures of personnel who didn't hold the respective position at the time of the supposed signatures. [...]
[...] The war in Afghanistan was a justified invasion in response to attacks on the United States and its citizens. The majority of the rest of the world either offered their assistance or verbally supported the actions that were taken in Afghanistan because the Taliban gave sanctuary to those responsible. The method in which the United States handled Operation Enduring Freedom allowed for the least amount of collateral damage to the citizens of Afghanistan, and the least amount of American casualties since only 350 Americans were in Afghanistan. [...]
[...] The Inter- Services Intelligence (I.S.I.) of Pakistan assisted in the formation of the Taliban to help rid of the Mujahideen. In 1996 Osama bin Laden came to Afghanistan after the Taliban had come into power, and began setting up Al Qaeda bases. Following the 1998 embassy attacks, President Clinton ordered cruise missile attacks on Al Qaeda bases, but Osama bin Laden survived. Following the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the Taliban continued to shelter Osama bin Laden, with Mullah Omar stated that Osama bin Laden would not be leaving Afghanistan. [...]
[...] The war in Iraq began to turn more into a proxy war, similarly to how Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 was one, with the exception that in Iraq there was a large Coalition force consisting of roughly 300,000 troops under the command of General Petraeus. However, the Anbar Awakening forces were fighting originally in a different region than that of where the majority of the Coalition forces were. More recently, with the increasing withdrawal of United States troops, the Coalition forces have been tasked with the training of the Iraqi army, so that it can be prepared to control the country independently. [...]
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