If you ask women in Afghanistan you will hear different views. People in the cities had a better life during the American occupation but in rural Afghanistan women were often worse off than under the Taliban. The US propped up warlords, some of them real monsters, and those controlled a lot of the country side. There was no good side in Afghanistan and the US should have stayed out, instead of propping up one group of oppressors to try to defeat another.
> There was no good side in Afghanistan and the US should have stayed out, instead of propping up one group of oppressors to try to defeat another.
I mean... The Taliban caused 9/11... What did you exactly expect the US to do?
So what you say is that there wasn't too much western engagement, but too little. I agree.