Trade Center and Pentagon a month earlier. While in Afghanistan rooting out Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, we got sidetracked and spent the next 8 years capturing Saddam Hussein and rebuilding war-torn Iraq. By the end of 2011, we had left Iraq and dispatched Bin Laden and much of the Al-Qaeda leadership, but we are still conducting military operations in Afghanistan. More than 6,950 American troops, and nearly the same number of contractors, have been killed fighting these wars. At least 52,000 troops have also been wounded, and 970,000 war veterans have some degree of disability resulting from their tours of duty. These numbers do not include the many suicides committed by military personnel, the estimated 250,000 civilian casualties, or the $4 trillion these wars have cost our Treasury. At the end of 2020, there were between 4,000 and 5,000 troops remaining in Afghanistan, enough to maintain the ability to conduct the core aspects of our existing missions in Afghanistan.

Proponents of leaving a contingent of troops in this country say we should fully train, equip and support Afghan security forces so they are able to protect their government and ensure this country will not again be used to attack us. Critics claim leaving troops behind serves no purpose except to turn a prolonged war into an indefinite one. They say training native security forces will not ensure Afghan security, and they point to the failure of 900,000 well-equipped Iraqi soldiers, most of which we trained over the course of many years, being overrun by fewer than 50,000 lightly-armed ISIS fighters in 2014.

Proposed Legislation: H.R.200 - Responsible End to the War in Afghanistan Act (113th Congress 2013-2014)
Prospective Sponsor: Rep. Barbara Lee (CA)

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