Nine years ago on October 7, the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom along with the British military and other coalition forces in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Nine years later, more U.S. troops than ever before are in Afghanistan as part of a U.S. President Obama-planned surge; Afghan President Hamid Karzai has formed a council to help negotiate with the Taliban and find a way for peace; and more than 2,100 U.S. and coalition troops have died.
In the United States, nearly six in 10 Americans continue to oppose the war in Afghanistan, the lowest level since the start, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll last week.
For some Afghans, the involvement of the United States remains divisive. In Kabul, the damage left over from past and present wars are daily reminders of a country long at the crossroads of history.
• Year-by-year: Nine years of war in Afghanistan
• Intel officers: No end in sight for war on terror
• First living Medal of Honor recipient since Vietnam
soundoff (67 Responses)