Afghanistan: What happened there?

AP Published June 30, 2011
In this Dec. 30, 1979 file photo, rebel Muslim fighters pose with an assortment of weapons during a break in weapons training in Barikot in the Afghanistan province of Kunar, Afghanistan. The rebels have been fighting Marxist Afghan government troops and now face the government of Babrak Karmal, who took power in a bloody coup.
In this Dec. 30, 1979 file photo, rebel Muslim fighters pose with an assortment of weapons during a break in weapons training in Barikot in the Afghanistan province of Kunar, Afghanistan. The rebels have been fighting Marxist Afghan government troops and now face the government of Babrak Karmal, who took power in a bloody coup.
In this June 23, 2011 file photo, Spc. Gavin Fruge, 22, of Crowley, La., left, watches a rebroadcast of President Barack Obama's speech on proposed troop withdrawal with fellow soldiers at Kandahar Airfield in Kandahar.
In this June 23, 2011 file photo, Spc. Gavin Fruge, 22, of Crowley, La., left, watches a rebroadcast of President Barack Obama's speech on proposed troop withdrawal with fellow soldiers at Kandahar Airfield in Kandahar.
In this Feb. 15, 1989 file photo, Soviet Army soldiers wave their hands as their last detachment crosses a bridge on the border between Afghanistan and then Soviet Uzbekistan near the Uzbek town of Termez, as they leave Afghanistan after waging a 10-year war. The Soviet Union lost some 15,000 soldiers in the war, which began in 1979 when Moscow sent in troops to battle guerrillas who were fighting a Soviet-supported government.
In this Feb. 15, 1989 file photo, Soviet Army soldiers wave their hands as their last detachment crosses a bridge on the border between Afghanistan and then Soviet Uzbekistan near the Uzbek town of Termez, as they leave Afghanistan after waging a 10-year war. The Soviet Union lost some 15,000 soldiers in the war, which began in 1979 when Moscow sent in troops to battle guerrillas who were fighting a Soviet-supported government.
In this March 5, 2007 file photo, Afghan villagers stand in front of one of the houses which was allegedly bombed by a Nato air strike on Jabar village in the Nijrab district of Kapisa province, north of Kabul.
In this March 5, 2007 file photo, Afghan villagers stand in front of one of the houses which was allegedly bombed by a Nato air strike on Jabar village in the Nijrab district of Kapisa province, north of Kabul.
In this April 7, 2011 file photo, an Afghan protestor holds a banner during a peaceful protest in Kabul.
In this April 7, 2011 file photo, an Afghan protestor holds a banner during a peaceful protest in Kabul.
In this Aug. 23, 2008 file photo, an Afghan woman and her daughter wail after their relative was killed in an air strike in Azizabad village in the Shindand district of Herat province.
In this Aug. 23, 2008 file photo, an Afghan woman and her daughter wail after their relative was killed in an air strike in Azizabad village in the Shindand district of Herat province.
In this June 15, 2011 file photo, Amy Balduf, of Richmond, Tenn., is comforted by a Marine at the graveside of her husband, US Marine Corps Sgt. Kevin Balduf, who was killed serving in Afghanistan, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
In this June 15, 2011 file photo, Amy Balduf, of Richmond, Tenn., is comforted by a Marine at the graveside of her husband, US Marine Corps Sgt. Kevin Balduf, who was killed serving in Afghanistan, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
In this Nov. 24, 2001 file photo, defecting Taliban fighters sit on a tank as they cross the frontline near the village of Amirabad.
In this Nov. 24, 2001 file photo, defecting Taliban fighters sit on a tank as they cross the frontline near the village of Amirabad.
In this May 2, 2008 file photo, US Marines, from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, return fire on Taliban positions near the town of Garmser in Helmand Province.
In this May 2, 2008 file photo, US Marines, from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, return fire on Taliban positions near the town of Garmser in Helmand Province.
In this June 23, 2011 file photo, US President Barack Obama speaks on a television broadcast news as a cashier of a local restaurant takes a nap in Kabul.
In this June 23, 2011 file photo, US President Barack Obama speaks on a television broadcast news as a cashier of a local restaurant takes a nap in Kabul.
In this March 17, 2007 file photo, an Afghan boy, right, sits near the body of his brother after he was killed by a suicide attack in Kandahar, south of Kabul.
In this March 17, 2007 file photo, an Afghan boy, right, sits near the body of his brother after he was killed by a suicide attack in Kandahar, south of Kabul.
In this Oct. 24, 2009 file photo, US soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, fire mortars at known enemy firing positions from a base in the Pech River Valley in Afghanistan's Kunar province. From left to right are Spc. William Makenzie of Pendleton, Ore., and Spc. Benjamin Pervis of Rochester, Minn.
In this Oct. 24, 2009 file photo, US soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, fire mortars at known enemy firing positions from a base in the Pech River Valley in Afghanistan's Kunar province. From left to right are Spc. William Makenzie of Pendleton, Ore., and Spc. Benjamin Pervis of Rochester, Minn.
In this Sept. 28, 1996 file photo, tanks manned by Taliban fighters and decorated with flowers are seen in front of the the Presidential palace in Kabul.
In this Sept. 28, 1996 file photo, tanks manned by Taliban fighters and decorated with flowers are seen in front of the the Presidential palace in Kabul.
In this July 8, 2009 file photo, US Marines from the 2nd MEB, 1st Battalion 5th Marines sleep in their fighting holes inside a compound where they stayed for the night, in the Nawa district of Helmand province.
In this July 8, 2009 file photo, US Marines from the 2nd MEB, 1st Battalion 5th Marines sleep in their fighting holes inside a compound where they stayed for the night, in the Nawa district of Helmand province.
In this June 9, 2011 file photo, a US Marine makes his way to pick up food supplies after they were dropped off by small parachutes from a plane outside Forward Operating Base Edi in Helmand Province.
In this June 9, 2011 file photo, a US Marine makes his way to pick up food supplies after they were dropped off by small parachutes from a plane outside Forward Operating Base Edi in Helmand Province.
In this May 8, 2009 file photo, Spc. Taylor Jordan from the US Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry lifts weights in the rain at his platoon's base Camp Restrepo in the Korengal Valley in Kunar Province.
In this May 8, 2009 file photo, Spc. Taylor Jordan from the US Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry lifts weights in the rain at his platoon's base Camp Restrepo in the Korengal Valley in Kunar Province.
In this July 6, 2009 file photo, medics attached to the US Marines from the 2nd MEB, 1st Battalion 5th Marines carry a Marine, who was overcome by heat exhaustion, to a medical evacuation helicopter in the Nawa district of Helmand province.
In this July 6, 2009 file photo, medics attached to the US Marines from the 2nd MEB, 1st Battalion 5th Marines carry a Marine, who was overcome by heat exhaustion, to a medical evacuation helicopter in the Nawa district of Helmand province.

For 10 years, ever since the towers fell, the United States has fought a war in a distant land in hopes, it says, of protecting American interests and making the world safer from terrorism. Now, as President Barack Obama plans to end US combat operations in Afghanistan by 2014, the question remains as muddy as ever: What happened here? - Photos by AP

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