Free When Elephants Fight by Eric Walters Page B

airports. Next they targeted communication and control assets. While this barrage was militarily successful, there were undoubtedly large numbers of civilian deaths, and the country, already poor and lacking in infrastructure, was further weakened.
    At the same time the Northern Alliance began a stepped-up campaign against the Taliban, attacking its positions. These attacks gained limited success until the Western powers directed air power against the Taliban positions, destroying equipment, killing fighters and providing accurate information to help direct the Northern Alliance attacks. By the beginning of November, the Taliban forces were decimated, and the combined Northern Alliance forces surged through the lines and made their way to the capital. Kabul was taken and cities across the country fell from Taliban hands, with the brunt of its forces retreating to the southeast, surrounding the city of Kandahar.
    All through the assault US Special Forces troops had been on the ground to assist the Northern Alliance. At the end of November, there was a major influx of US combat troops. By December the last of the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces were killed, subdued, went underground, or fled the country and took refuge in the mountain areas of Pakistan. Thousands of US and allied troops were now stationed in the country to try to provide a stable environment for the creation of an interim government.
    In December, Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun and the leader of the Populzai clan, was named head of the interim government. In June, 2002, he formally became president. This position and his legitimacy were further confirmed in October, 2004, when the first elections were held and he was elected president.
    The defeat of the Taliban, the ousting of al-Qaeda and the democratic election of a president have not, however, led to stability within the country. The US-led coalition continued to contribute largenumbers of troops, equipment and expertise to support the government. It was highly questionable if the government could maintain order without the support of these external forces. Attacks have been continually launched on government forces, and large parts of the country remain under only marginal control of the central government.
    In 2006 the US-led coalition was formally replaced by a UN-mandated force—the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is composed of NATO countries. This was the first time that NATO, created for the defense of Europe, had operated outside of Europe.
    Over 30,000 NATO soldiers, from thirty-seven countries, are in the ISAF and are serving in Afghanistan. They are in the country, with the approval of the government, to give assistance to the Afghanistan army to provide stability, fight Taliban and al-Qaeda forces and allow the government to retain power and create an environment for the country to be stabilized and rebuilt and to continue to develop.
    In August, 2006, a major offensive involving Afghanistan and NATO forces was believed to have killed over two thousand Taliban fighters and once again provided a further opportunity for Afghans to govern themselves.
    While the fall of the Taliban forces took place over six years ago, the coalition forces have discovered what all other previous armies had discovered: taking the country is difficult, but holding it is even more challenging.
NATO
    The United States and the Soviet Union were allies in World War II, acting to defeat Nazi Germany. At the conclusion of the war, having defeated this enemy, the two former allies found themselves politically and ideologically opposed to each other. There were fears in Western Europe that the Soviet Union and its allies would turn against them. In response, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949. This was composed of Canada, the United States and ten European countries—the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal.
    At the