19 years later, time to leave Afghanistan rather than sink deeper into an unwinnable war

19 years later, time to leave Afghanistan rather than sink deeper into an unwinnable war: There are now U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan who weren’t even born when the war started after Sept. 11. Half of Afghanistan’s current population was born after the U.S. invasion in October 2001. The Afghan people have been subjected to non-stop conflict since the 1979 Soviet invasion. And Wednesday marks the official beginning of the 20th year of perpetual combat for U.S. troops.