How about: 8 years ago the quasi-government in Afghanistan was providing support to people who carried out attacks on NYC and Washington DC,
...............
LOL!
Every year or so you pull out this argument, waving it around like pictures of a distant, fondly remembered vacation.
What makes it especially hilarious is the not so subtle implication that everyone who talks about the US' invasion of Afghanistan in broad terms -- maybe even having the bad manners to mention 'imperialism' -- is missing the simple facts: that the Taliban harbored al Qaeda and so, Washington's strategy of Suppress the Taliban Forever! is at least logical and perhaps, necessary.
Every year or so, in response, I point out the unsustainability of a strategy which consists almost entirely of bombing civilian gatherings, predator drone attacks and dispatching troops to and fro on endless search and destroy missions. I think it was Ulhas, way back when, who insisted this wasn't so bad since the Afghans had 'different expectations' (i.e., they were accustomed to a fucked up life so what's a few more decades of fucked-up-ed-ness?) and besides, the US was so super duper rich and high tech that nothing could deter it for long.
You're a bit more sophisticated than that but still seem to believe the Afghan project can go on and on since, as you routinely state with the confidence of Newton asserting the self evidence of gravity, it wasn't meant to bring stability to Afghanistan but topple the Talibs and keep them from returning to power.
It seems to me (repeating myself by restating the counter-argument I always use when this comes up) that the most effective way to suppress the Taliban is by actually keeping the many Western redevelopment promises.
By all rational accounts, eight years of bombings, house searches, luxury hotel construction in Kabul, search and destroy missions, NGO bullshit, flowery promises, high level photo-op visits and enduring poverty in the face of Western bantustans of affluence have made the Taliban stronger, not weaker.
If you still think it's a viable effort -- even when judged on its own terms as a purely military venture -- I have some Lehman Brothers stock I'd like to sell you.
.d.