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Afghanistan is the longest war in American history after the terrorist attacks on September 11 2001 America in its allies invaded the country the Taliban the hardline Islamist group that ruled over Afghanistan had sheltered al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden nearly 20 years later the conflict has achieved very little it's a country in ruin the Taliban still controls much of it and the war is showing no signs of slowing down so levels of violence are enormous in 2018 25,000 people died in Afghanistan so what has made America's war in Afghanistan unwinnable Afghanistan has been mired in conflict for over 40 years in 1979 the Soviet Union invaded the country to support the Afghan communist regime in response America funded Mujahideen rebels to fight the Soviet forces as part of an American proxy war in 1989 Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan which sparked years of infighting among tribal warlords the chaos created fertile ground for the Taliban to grab power and in 1996 they took control of Kabul Afghanistan's capital and established themselves as the government in much of the country three years after the American invasion in 2001 democratic elections were held in the country but neither military reinforcements nor peace talks have ended the fighting so every president in their own way has tried to win the war in Afghanistan they've put troops in they've taken troops out none of them have really managed to fundamentally change the course of the war itself my fellow citizens events in Iraq have now reached the final days of decision President George W Bush pulled resources away from Afghanistan to focus on his war in Iraq and one of the most difficult decisions that I've made as president I ordered an additional 30,000 American troops in Afghanistan President Barack Obama put huge amounts of troops into Afghanistan to try and knock the Taliban into a deal to try and win the war there and the American presence hasn't been all bad for all the good they've done allowing girls to go back to school creating a democratic government there's no real sense in which much of that can survive beyond the period in which the Americans leave and the farms dry up that's because the Taliban are now in control of more of Afghanistan since 2001 today almost 18 percent of all Afghan districts are under Taliban control and 48% are contested how have they been able to extend their power the Taliban don't have military might they don't have warplanes or tanks or advanced equipment what they do have is local legitimacy they have persuaded many people that their version of Swift Islamic justice is more legitimate than the corrupt Afghan government and they've been propped up by neighboring Pakistan some people will say Pakistan which helped form the Taliban in the early 1990s was too committed to helping their Islamist allies survive they sheltered the Taliban leadership in Pakistan they gave arms and weapons to the Taliban to help them gain support in Afghanistan there is also drug money 90% of the world's heroin comes from Afghanistan and this is a strong source of funding for the Taliban opium has been a big part of the war it's been a part of the conflict economy the profits help fund them making the Taliban one of the wealthiest armed non-state groups in the world efforts to destroy the opium crop effectively destroyed the livelihoods of farmers and in some cases made them more sympathetic to the Taliban and more hostile to the government the Americans installed after 2001 people will say that the West created an overly centralized domineering state in Afghanistan run by an overly powerful president who didn't pay attention to the ethnic tribal social heterogeneity of the country I think all of these were reasons but I think it's also the case that no big counterinsurgency campaign with lots of troops has ever really worked in a society like Afghanistan in recent years is it time for America to leave president Donald Trump has been trying to strike a deal with the Taliban to reduce the amount of American troops in Afghanistan Donald Trump kicked off the most serious negotiations between America and the Taliban that have ever occurred only two have decided to walk away at the last minute as both parties were about to meet in September 2019 a Taliban attack killed an American soldier Donald Trump doesn't want to go into his election with 14,000 troops in Afghanistan if America is seen to be in a rush the Taliban will simply count down the clock until everyone leaves and they can take over Afghanistan if and when the Trump administration and the Taliban strike a deal the worry is that mr. Trump will quickly reduce troops in Afghanistan without securing lasting peace absolutely important is that the Americans and the international community of patient and they encourage a power-sharing agreement in Afghanistan between the Afghans between the Taliban that isn't cobbled together at a few months but does the Trump administration have the will to do it if you enjoyed this film you can find more economist coverage on Afghanistan in the links below to stay tuned for more economist films click subscribe thanks for watching