The answer is simple: 9/11. The most costly terrorist attack ever was carried out from Afghanistan. The United States showed bipartisan determination to bring the perpetrators to justice and—the part that explains our continuing engagement in Afghanistan—to prevent its soil from ever being used again to stage terrorist attacks.

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Pundits tend to treat terrorism and guerrilla tactics as something new, but nothing could be further from the truth. Although the agendas have changed over the years -- from tribalism, to liberalism and nationalism, to socialism, to jihadist extremism -- guerrilla and terrorist warfare has been ubiquitous throughout history and consistently deadly.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen held a final press conference on February 22, 2013, after meetings of NATO Defence Ministers regarding the International Security Assistance Force and the transition in Afghanistan.

Fawzia Koofi, Afghan Member of Parliament, women's rights activist, and presidential candidate, speaks about what to expect for Afghanistan after U.S. troops withdraw in 2014.

Throughout Chuck Hagel's marathon confirmation hearing, America's decade-long war in Afghanistan was noticeably overlooked. But it is curious to see the next secretary of defense receive so few inquiries from senators about the war whose end he will presumably oversee in the coming years, says Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.

After a week with Lt. Col. Mohammad Daowood's battalion, "what I found is that the [Afghan National Army] looks very different when there are no Americans around."

Hina Rabbani Khar, the minister for foreign affairs for Pakistan discusses the implications of U.S. and NATO troop reduction and withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S.-Pakistan relations, and details surrounding the U.S. operation that killed Osama Bin Laden.

Max Boot argues that substantial withdrawals of American military personnel from Afghanistan ignore the reality of the situation.

All signs suggest that the United States will not be keeping large numbers of forces in Afghanistan for much longer, says CFR's Stephen Biddle.

President Obama and President Karzai published this joint statement on January 11, 2013, which discusses the future of U.S.-Afghan relations.

President Obama and President Karzai held a joint press conference at the White House on January 11, 2013, to discuss the transition in Afghanistan.

Despite the fact that Malala Yousafzai, the fourteen-year-old Pakistani women's rights activist, survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, similar attacks against women, like the one in India, are on the rise. Gayle Tzemach Lemmon says that these attacks are efforts to stamp out women's progress and the potential of women worldwide will not be realized if this type of violence is tolerated.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey held this press conference on January 10, 2013. They discussed Afghan President Karzai's visit, defense sequestration, and possible chemical weapons in Syria.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon says that the war in Afghanistan, which has spanned a decade and cost more than 2,000 American lives, has now faded to one key, albeit short-sighted, question: How many U.S. troops will remain after 2014?

Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes and Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for South Asia Doug Lute held this conference call on January 8, 2013, to preview President Karzai's visit to the White House.

Women have made strides in Afghanistan since 2001, but huge issues still remain. While the United States focuses on withdrawal, Afghan women are still in the fight and will be long after 2014, says Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.

A precipitious drawdown to 6,000 troops in Afghanistan after 2014 would cripple the U.S. counterterrorism mission and Afghan security forces, vastly increasing the risk of a Taliban takeover, says Max Boot.

CFR's Daniel Markey examines the prospects for new talks with the Afghan Taliban, especially given improving relations between the United States and Pakistan.

Gayle Lemmon, Deputy Director, Women and Foreign Policy Program at CFR and former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan speak on how to involve more women in the peacekeeping process.

Bibi Aisha's gruesome maiming put her on the cover of Time. Now, years later, she's working on getting a new face and trying to exorcise the horror, restart her life—and reunite with family, says Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.