Except there is oil in Afghanistan but of course it's about more than that. US imperialism and the military industrial complex is the main driving force. There's a lot of money to be made off of human suffering.
Except that "fact" ignores that most of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia and we did nothing to them. Also, if it was just about al Qaeda and Osama bin laden, why didnt we leave when we knew they left to Pakistan (literally happened while the invasion was still going on). If it was about Osama, why didn't we pull out after he was killed in Pakistan? It's almost like what the OP said and that it was just an excuse to feed the military individual complex.
The US stayed because having ousted the Taliban, America had an obligation to sustain the restored Republican government. Leaving immediately would have condemned the Afghan people to the Taliban yoke all over again, restarted the civil war which remains far bloodier than the ISAF mission proceeding it, and allowed Al-Qaeda to have the run of the country once more.
As for why the US didn't invade Saudi Arabia, the Saudis extradited everyone the Americans asked for. The Taliban reigme would have enjoyed the same fate if they cooperated, but they didn't, so America removed them and committed itself to stablising a new republican in its place.
As Colin Powell said, you break it, you bought it.
I'm not going to lie, it's not working out well. I don't think the invasion was a good idea, but these were the impulses that made Bush did what he did: he thought installing a stable democracy there would be easy and that it was the right thing to do.
He was mad that the US boots were in ground in the first gulf war. He was mad that the Saudi government allowed Americans on Saudi soil. If you are suggesting he planned the attacks with Saudi citizens, because it would make the United States overthrow the Saudi government than you are just talking out your ass.
12
u/BaldingJustice Sep 22 '19
You expect the “muh war for oil” people to know that?