The 10 Worst Things About the Worst Decade Ever

Invading Afghanistan
An immediate consequence of 9/11 was the Bush Administration's decision to punish the regime that had given refuge to al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. Initially deemed a success with the ouster of the Taliban from power in Kabul, the war in the mountainous nation was overshadowed by the consequent war in the deserts of Iraq — but it did not end. Indeed, even as American involvement in Iraq was tapering off, the war in Afghanistan grew graver and graver, with the Taliban looming as a resurrected force.

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