[AniseAbyss]

I disagree, in the beginning the Americans were hopeful they could impose a puppet state with permanent US military bases. Look at a map and you can see the allure. Nobody in the region was particularly enthusiastic with that idea.

[mcguire]

Nobody was particularly enthusiastic about the Taliban, either. Except perhaps the Pakistanis, who wanted a relatively friendly, stable country on their border (IIRC, there was an oil/gas pipeline involved.)