Afghanistan: Five Years Later

On Oct. 7, 2001, President Bush spoke from the Treaty Room of the White House to announce the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, a mission designed to disrupt and destroy al-Qaeda operations in Afghanistan and the regime that had harbored and supported Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.

It was never going to be an easy mission. Afghanistan was among the world's poorest nations, with little political or economic infrastructure. Nearly three decades of war, drought and a Soviet occupation by hundreds of thousands of troops had yielded a broken, lawless nation.

Who's Blogging? Read what bloggers are saying about this article. IntoxiNation IntoxiNation Who Is IOZ? Full List of Blogs (10 links) � Most Blogged About Articles On washingtonpost.com | On the web Save & Share Tag This Article  Saving options 1. Save to description:  Headline (required)  Byline 2. Save to notes (255 character max):  Blurb 3. Tag This Article

Yet from halfway around the world -- with but a few weeks' notice -- coalition forces were charged with securing a landlocked, mountainous country that history had dubbed the "graveyard" of great powers.