'I Didn't Think America Would Take Revenge': How Afghans Remember 9/11 and the War After

A tragic rewind and Panjshir redux. Losing then and losing now.

Afghans were still hurting from their own Al-Qaeda tragedy when hijacked planes flew into the World Trade Center in New York. Militants from the organisation had killed Ahmad Shah Massoud two days before, the resistance icon who had resisted both the Soviet forces and the Taliban from his home Panjshir Valley.

Now, as the Taliban have taken over the country following a messy withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan, Panjshir has been ‘taken again’. But 9/11 had marked the start of what would end now, and begin a new chapter – albeit a terrifying one – for Afghans.

Even as Afghans had grappled with Ahmad Shah Massoud’s death, events were unfolding in the United States that were to dramatically change the course of their country’s future. But for some, the significance of the incident passed them by.

“That evening I listened to the news… there was talk of an attack in America,” Abdul Rahman, a retired government employee who was in his twenties at the time, told AFP.

“I didn’t care because there was always talk of attacks and war on the radio,” he said.

In the coming days, however, as Afghans learnt that Al-Qaeda militants hiding in their own backyard had masterminded the attacks — and their Taliban rulers were blamed for sheltering the group — many realised their world was about to be transformed.

“I did not think America would attack Afghanistan in revenge,” said Abdul Rahman. “I thought America was very far away.” Abdul Samad, a librarian in Kandahar, remembers seeing crowds gather around a newspaper stand, the pages covered with images of the twin towers attack.

“It was almost two days after the incident,” he told AFP. It was, however, the beginning of an “unacceptable occupation”.

“They had sought an excuse to come to Afghanistan. It was an excuse to occupy this land.”

When the Taliban refused to give up Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the US moved in — overthrowing the hardline regime which had held power since 1996 in a matter of weeks. But Qiyamuddin, a locksmith from Kandahar, said any hope he had of the American-led invasion healing decades of war and conflict in Afghanistan quickly evaporated.

“They made a mess by coming here,” he told AFP.

As the war dragged on and the Taliban resurfaced, foreign troops were accused of disrespecting Afghan religion and traditions — and civilian casualties mounted.

“People were optimistic and (Afghan) refugees from other countries like Pakistan and Iran came back,” said Qiyamuddin. “They were unaware we were going to face more troubles.”

Noorullah, a teacher, remembers watching news of the attack on a TV hidden in the basement of a relative’s house — the Taliban had banned the medium as un-Islamic. “It looked horrible. They were repeatedly showing the towers on fire,” he said

A brief period of peace followed after the Taliban were ejected, but it would not last. “When the Taliban were gone, people were happy, they could at least breathe freedom,” he said. But as time passed, he “started to believe the US had come to a wrong place. It was a trap for them”.

“And 20 years later… I was right,” he told AFP. “The Taliban are back. The same people, faces and attitude are back.”

The Long War and What it Cost

The now-ending US combat campaign in Afghanistan was America’s longest war, lasting just under 20 years. Ordinary Americans tended to forget about it, and it received far less congressional monitoring than the Vietnam War. However, the death toll is in the tens of thousands. And, because the majority of the money was borrowed, generations of Americans will be burdened by the cost of repaying it.

Here’s a look at the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, by the numbers, as reported by the Associated Press.

Much of the data below is from Linda Bilmes of Harvard University’s Kennedy School and from the Brown University Costs of War project. Because the United States between 2003 and 2011 fought the Afghanistan and Iraq wars simultaneously, and many American troops served tours in both wars, some figures as noted cover both post-9/11 U.S. wars.

THE LONGEST WAR:

Percentage of U.S. population born since the 2001 attacks plotted by al-Qaida leaders who were sheltering in Afghanistan: Roughly one out of every four.

THE HUMAN COST:

American service members killed in Afghanistan through April: 2,448.

U.S. contractors: 3,846.

Afghan national military and police: 66,000.

Other allied service members, including from other NATO member states: 1,144.

Afghan civilians: 47,245.

Taliban and other opposition fighters: 51,191.

Aid workers: 444.

Journalists: 72.

AFGHANISTAN AFTER NEARLY 20 YEARS OF U.S. OCCUPATION:

Percentage drop in infant mortality rate since U.S., Afghan and other allied forces overthrew the Taliban government, which had sought to restrict women and girls to the home: About 50.

Percentage of Afghan teenage girls able to read today: 37.

OVERSIGHT BY CONGRESS:

Date Congress authorized U.S. forces to go after culprits in Sept. 11, 2001, attacks: Sept. 18, 2001.

Number of times U.S. lawmakers have voted to declare war in Afghanistan: 0.

Number of times lawmakers on Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee addressed costs of Vietnam War, during that conflict: 42

Number of times lawmakers in same subcommittee have mentioned costs of Afghanistan and Iraq wars, through mid-summer 2021: 5.

Number of times lawmakers on Senate Finance Committee have mentioned costs of Afghanistan and Iraq wars since Sept. 11, 2001, through mid-summer 2021: 1.

PAYING FOR A WAR ON CREDIT, NOT IN CASH:

Amount President Harry Truman temporarily raised top tax rates to pay for Korean War: 92%.

Amount President Lyndon Johnson temporarily raised top tax rates to pay for Vietnam War: 77%.

Amount President George W. Bush cut tax rates for the wealthiest, rather than raise them, at outset of Afghanistan and Iraq wars: At least 8%.

Estimated amount of direct Afghanistan and Iraq war costs that the United States has debt-financed as of 2020: $2 trillion.

Estimated interest costs by 2050: Up to $6.5 trillion.

THE WARS END. THE COSTS DON’T:

Amount Bilmes estimates the United States has committed to pay in health care, disability, burial and other costs for roughly 4 million Afghanistan and Iraq veterans: more than $2 trillion.

Period those costs will peak: after 2048.

With inputs from AFP, AP.

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