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As the tall towers taken down in NYC two decades today were twin, so were the catastrophic events of that day, marked by terror and horror.
First, several facts:
1) After 9/11, the USA retaliated by invading Afghanistan, the country known to be harboring training camps of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the nefarious deeds of that day, and Al Qaeda.
2) In Afghanistan, the USA military routed the Taliban in 2001, although it would be another decade before they took out bin Laden, who had taken refuge in the city of Abbottabad in Pakistan.
3) The Taliban offered to unconditionally surrender in 2001, but that offer was rejected by the then U.S. Administration.
4) The Taliban regrouped, at least in part in Pakistan.
5) Now, after 20 years, the USA has exited Afghanistan. It has no more troops there.
6) Coincident with 5), the Taliban has rapidly retaken the country. It has promised a kinder, gentler government, but that remains to be seen. Skepticism on the part of some is understandable.
