Aw shucks samb1,
You didn't read my post did you? LOL.
I know it's long,LOL, but my personal answer to YOUR question is in there.

Peace.

Why are we in Afghanistan? Are'nt we supposed to catch Bin Laden and get the hell out of there?

LOL! debois,don't let them convince you they are ACADEMIC IDIOTS,because then you'll fall into the trap of saying,"well the ignorance caused ALL their errors",thereby giving them AN EXCUSE for their high crimes and misdemeanours.
Those guys KNEW EXACTLY what they were starting.
The Problem was,I reckon,is that THEY,COLD-HEARTEDLY,DIDN'T CARE.

The only literature Bush,Cheney,Rummie,Rice etc are likely to have read,WITH ARDENT INTEREST,in the last two decades is probably a mix of:
-Constitutional Law-and how to BREAK IT,RE-WRITE IT,or LEGALLY abuse it,
-Oil Company geological maps and surveys of all the RECOVERABLE oil/gas supplies THROUGHOUT the Middle East and Asia,from the Mediterranean/Caspian,east to the Gulag,
-How to fool and,thereby,ENDANGER their own Nation,into believing they're at war?

All of which I believe to be very high crimes,MASSIVE MISDEMEANOURS AND ABUSE OF PUBLIC OFFICE for which they should and must be IMPEACHED and/or censured!

-Plus,their indispensable literature on maintaining the MANICHAEN perspective that REGARDLESS of evidence to the CONTRARY,their perilous and NEGLIGENT actions are JUST and for THE GREATER GOOD,and no other opinion or critisism is worthy of consideration.
-And,last but not least,the literature that drives the selfish spirit ASWELL as the pocketbook and bank balance----the 'Rapture' series, i.e. following the road to evangelical neocon zionism at ALL COSTS ,to ALL 'OTHERS' and their children.
This last category of 'reading matter' is the MOST heinous,because it illustrates how dangerous these people,AMONGST us,are.
We don't need no stinkin' "terrorists" on our beloved American streets.
Why?
Because we've ALREADY got them IN-HOUSE! The White House!
Their WAYS and MEANS to their special-interest 'goals' are far and away removed from the down to earth goals of ordinary people,who they consider mere collateral damage and expendible wastage on the 'merry' road to the 'greater good'.

Bush KNEW ALREADY that Afghanistan was a tribal and mountainous fortress.
He had been provided with OODLES of information from the Brits,Russia,secret services etc.Remember,Osama Bin Laden was once a rebel ALLY of the States when he was USEFUL in the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.
And,as long as we 'meekly' promised NOT to put our "infidel" feet on 'sacred' Saudi oily-soil then HE WAS HAPPY AS LARRY! But........!
Anyway,massive amounts of cash was channelled from America by the CIA to Bin 'Laying-Down'to arm him and build HIS MOUNTAIN NETWORK of tunnels to house him,his fighters and their cache of AMERICAN WEAPONS LOL!
You think Bush 'Arbusto' Jr. and Cheney DON'T still have those architectural plans and lay outs of that network right in their offices(plus extras built since then,with the help of House of Saud money)???
Remember how Osama Bin Laden 'just happened' to escape from Torah Borah??? LOL!

Bush knew about Afghanistan,he just didn't care,because if he had ACKNOWLEDGED those facts and advise from all the experts,he would have had to concede and change his 'OILY' plans! And he wasn't going to do that. You can bet yer rapturous butt he wasn't!
Since his first year in the White House,he has blatantly thumbed his nose AT all the experts and their YEARS of professional experience,including the Admirals/Generals of the U.S.MILITARY(the ones who have to pick up his Sh**), the CIA,the NSA,the FBI,the TSA and ALL foreign intelligence services,WHO CAME TO HIM with documented information,PDB's,gathered over YEARS of hard graft and danger,that disproved or negated his excuses to implement his 'imperial' RESOURCES PLAN.
The only literature Bush/Cheney were interested in was ANY which backed their madness.And if it didn't EXIST......THEN JUST MAKE IT UP!!!!
That included terrorizing the American people,while they were mourning the dead and injured of 9/11,because a USEFUL tool of mass control IS MASS FEAR!
Hit'em when they are ALREADY DOWN!
They have NEVER been interested in ACTUAL facts,preferring rather the CONTRIVED 'facts' that were conducive to their pre-conceived strategies....oil and Gas at ALL COSTS,including loss of life,reason and sanity!
And they have,in the meantime,managed to wreak havoc on America's global image of an inspiring LEADER IN JUSTICE,The Rule of Law, and TRUE DEMOCRACY!
So that NOW,the American Government has no viable diplomatic leg to stand up on,and argue against human-rights abuse,abusing International Rules of War,against the abuse of transparent Democracy!
Bush and Cheney have made America,and indirectly,ITS PEOPLE complicit in all these heinous acts,in the eyes of our International allies AND ENEMIES!

No debois,THESE GUYS knew their history books.....THEY JUST DIDN'T CARE.
And that,to me,is far worse,CRIMINALLY,hypocritically, AND UNFORGIVEABLY!
If the Afghan army is unable,unprepared to tackle the Taliban,WHO'S FAULT IS THAT?
The Bush administration! Period.
Hamed Karzai was/is MASSIVELY financed by,and in situ because of the White House administration.
He's their Asian OIL-Buddy after all.
Ask him where all the 'hot' new Afghan forces are,that he's been paid 'HANDSOMELY'to ready and equip?
Most are probably in Pakistan,IN THE TALIBAN! LOL!
Bush and Cheney etc know the season of THE POPPY,and how the Taliban grows if the poppies flourish! They know that every poppy standing in the field represents A RIFLE or RPG IN EACH TALIBAN HAND.
I tell you what. If Karzai REALLY wants a AMAZONIAN ARMY against the Taliban,he should recruit the Afghan women that were raped,tortured,beaten and brutalized by the Taliban during their first reign of terror.
You give THOSE women a rifle each and I bet they would rout them out IN AN INSTANT! They are not lily-livered woossies!
God help the Taliban if the WOMEN turn on them!

I tell you debois,if North Korea has now,CONVENIENTLY,been taken off Bush's "Axis of Evil"(ludicrous in itself) LOL,then I know who can fill their 'shoes'???
Yes! the Bush Administration!!!
Their very actions,when compared to the tenets of the Constitutional Republic of the United States of America and all its Freedoms and Civil Liberties, definately QUALIFY them,unequivocally for a NO-BID spot in the 'AXIS OF OIL-VIL'!
Bush and Cheney are not idiots. They are power-hungry Corporate 'businessmen' and ideologically BRUTES!
Alack and Alas,we are the idiots,for ALLOWING Congress,to allow THEM to continue in public office!
May all our childrens kites and dreams fly high on the season of change!
Peace,Salaam,Shalom!

-

The problem with Bush and his cohorts is that they do not read...especially history books. Afghanistan has never been hospitable to foreign invaders. he just needs to ask the Brits and the Russians.

"War on Terror in Afghanistan" LOL! Yeh right!
I don't think 'Bin' Bush EVER meant there to be a "war on terror" in that region.He knew he had to deploy troops there because that was the nesting ground of Al Qaeda and that scum-bag Osama Bin Laden and following 9/11 it had to look VALID that he was chasing the 'man' down,back into the mountains.LOL!
Bush couldn't give a **** about Afghanistan and considering that the CIA originally helped Bin Laden,during the Russian invasion TO BUILD HIS MOUNTAIN network of tunnels,don't you think Osama would have been dead already in a box, IF HE WERE NOT a CIA agent all along.
Don't think it's feasible???
Think again! This is Bush and Cheney we are talking about here.
Afghanistan was ALWAYS meant as a distraction,while the real target was Iraq and the oil!
I would imagine that right now,UNTIL they have secured the Iraqi oil deals a temporary Taliban mayhem only keeps the area in turmoil to excuse maintaining the ISAF there.
If they really wanted peace,no Taliban and Osama they could have BLASTED the he** out of them already,regardless of how tough the terrain is.
But no! Don't wreck what infrastructure there is,because that gas pipeline is still getting built,right? WOW! OPIUM and GAS/OIL,no wonder Bush's eyes are 'twinkling'!
If they really wanted the Taliban busted for good all they had to do was make sure this seasons poppy crop was burnt to cinders,long before the locals had chance to 'bleed' it.
No opium = no money = no munitions OR payment of Taliban recruits etc etc.
But no,this years opium crop was one of the best in years! LOL! Go figure!

The "war on terror" was never meant to be "effective",because the ongoing turmoil is FAR more useful/effective to CERTAIN PARTIES, (Nudge Nudge,Wink Wink,say no more).

I wonder how 'oil-man' President Karzais brother and family are profiting from THEIR OWN opium crop this year,in Helman province I believe?
It's probably half-way to Mexico and Europe by now.
Bush wouldn't want to spoil THAT now would he? Karzai is an old OIL-BRO!

Why do you think Afghanistan is all but forgotten in our media generally each day?
Because it's meant as background noise only(expensively so)and the CHENEY-BUSH focus is in the other direction....Iraq and IRAN,as well as contributing MORE money to the further developement of Nuclear 'technology'IN INDIA!
And,in the meantime the people of Afghanistan SUFFER AGAIN.....
Peace,Salaam,Shalom!

Despite the presence of more than 50,000 troops of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the Taliban has taken back control of vast rural areas since the beginning of 2008 and now has a foothold just outside Kabul. Their recent brazen attacks have raised questions about the effectiveness of the War on Terror in Afghanistan and whether any place in the country is safe from the Islamist movement that the war was originally intended to eradicate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamal-dajani/the-year-of-the-taliban_b_109617.html