WILLIAM HATHAWAY—The USA invaded with a massive land and air assault, conquered Kabul, and installed a figurehead president who had previously worked for the US company that wanted to build the pipeline. He was their guy, and the pipeline was at the top of his agenda.
The Taliban merged back into the rural population, where they have deep roots. To find and kill them, the USA and its NATO partners unleashed a campaign of terror – house raids by death squads (an old CIA card), brutal interrogations, drone strikes, infantry sweeps – that divided the rural population into two groups – the dead and the determined.