Published: 11:41 PM, 21 September 2026
Did the U.S. War on Terror in Afghanistan Really Pay Off?
Donna Patricia
Twenty years after the United States entered Afghanistan, the question of whether the war achieved what it set out to accomplish remains deeply contested. The conflict began in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, with the United States seeking to destroy al-Qaeda, remove the Taliban government that had sheltered the group, and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a base for future terrorist attacks.
The Taliban government was quickly removed from power, and al-Qaeda’s leadership suffered major losses. But the conflict soon expanded into a much longer effort to defeat a growing insurgency, build Afghan security forces, and establish a stable democratic government. When the last U.S. troops left Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban returned to power.
That outcome has complicated any simple assessment of the war.
A Victory That Did Not Last
In its first months, the U.S.-led military campaign accomplished several immediate objectives. The Taliban regime was driven from Kabul, and al-Qaeda’s operational base in Afghanistan was disrupted. The United States and its allies also established a new Afghan government and began constructing national security institutions.
For much of the following two decades, however, the Taliban remained an armed political force. U.S. and allied troops fought alongside Afghan forces in an effort to prevent the Taliban from retaking the country. Billions of dollars were spent training and equipping Afghan soldiers and police.
Yet the Afghan government and security forces ultimately proved unable to withstand the Taliban after the withdrawal of most U.S. and allied combat forces. The Taliban entered Kabul in August 2021, and the Afghan government collapsed.
The return of the Taliban does not erase the changes that occurred during the previous 20 years, but it does raise a fundamental question: How durable were the institutions that the United States helped build?
The Human and Financial Cost
The war carried an enormous price. The United States spent trillions of dollars on military operations, reconstruction, development, and support for Afghan security forces. The financial burden extended beyond direct battlefield spending and included long-term obligations to American veterans.
The human toll was also substantial. Thousands of American service members and contractors died during the war, while many more returned home with physical and psychological injuries. Afghan civilians, soldiers, police officers, and Taliban fighters also suffered enormous losses.
For Afghanistan, the consequences were particularly severe. Generations grew up amid conflict, displacement, poverty, and insecurity. Although violence declined in some areas at different points, the country never achieved lasting peace during the U.S. presence.
The costs did not end with the withdrawal. Veterans of the post-9/11 wars will require medical care and other benefits for decades. Afghanistan itself continues to face serious economic and humanitarian challenges.
Gains Beyond the Battlefield
Measuring the war solely by the Taliban’s return also leaves out developments that occurred during the two decades of international involvement.
Afghanistan experienced major changes in education, health care, communications, and public life. Millions of Afghan children attended school, including large numbers of girls. Women participated more visibly in politics, journalism, education, and the workforce than they had under the Taliban government before 2001.
The United States and other countries also provided extensive development assistance. Roads, hospitals, schools, government institutions, and communication networks were constructed or expanded in many parts of the country.
However, many of these gains proved vulnerable after the international military presence ended. The Taliban subsequently imposed severe restrictions on women and girls, including restrictions on education and employment. This has raised concerns about whether some of the social progress achieved during the intervention can survive under Taliban rule.
The Question of Security
The strongest argument for the war is tied to its original counterterrorism purpose rather than its later nation-building mission.
The initial campaign disrupted al-Qaeda’s sanctuary in Afghanistan and demonstrated that the United States was willing to use military force against governments that sheltered terrorist organizations. The United States also developed extensive counterterrorism capabilities during the post-9/11 period.
But the broader war became increasingly difficult to define. The mission evolved from destroying al-Qaeda and removing the Taliban to combating an insurgency, creating democratic institutions, and building an Afghan state capable of securing itself.
That expansion created a difficult strategic problem: The longer the mission continued, the more difficult it became to identify a clear endpoint.
A Complicated Legacy
Whether the war “paid off” ultimately depends on which objectives are being measured and over what period.
If the measure is the immediate removal of the Taliban government and disruption of al-Qaeda's base after September 11, the early military campaign produced significant results. If the measure is the creation of a stable Afghan government capable of surviving without sustained American military support, the events of 2021 present a very different picture.
The war also left behind enduring human, financial, and political consequences. The United States spent two decades and enormous resources in Afghanistan, while thousands of American service members and contractors lost their lives and many more returned home with lasting injuries.
The most important lesson may therefore be less about declaring the war a success or failure than about understanding the gap between limited military objectives and expansive political ambitions. Afghanistan demonstrated how difficult it can be for an outside power to transform a country through military force—and how difficult it is to measure success when the goals of a war change over time.
The question of whether the war paid off remains open to interpretation. What is not in dispute is its scale: a conflict that began in response to the attacks of September 11 became America's longest war, shaped a generation of U.S. foreign policy, and continues to influence the lives of Americans and Afghans alike.
Donna Patricia reports for
Florida Tribune from
Nicosia, Cyprus.
