Nono: This is the best explanation I can give, and needs to be incorporated with my previous post #8: >>>>
Afghanistan: Opium Trade Control ($$$)!
Taliban, Al Qaeda and various sub-insurgency groups had based their operations inside Afghanistan, in order to take control of the opium trade for financing insurgency operations worldwide.
Q: Why Afghanistan?
A: Opium control to finance global terrorism network.
Terrorism's Harvest - TIME
The U.S., NATO, and Coalition Forces had to stop this enemy from taking control of the Afghanistan government, and cut off its supply-line to opium trade financing revenue ($$$).
NATO - Topic: Afghanistan, NATO's role in War in Afghanistan - CNN.com Taliban leader boasts of eventual victory in Afghanistan - CNN.com Taliban - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Afghanistan, al Qaeda and the Taliban The Washington Independent » Opium, al-Qaeda and the Helmand ‘Sideshow’