Amazon.com description: Product Description: On October 7, 2001, the United States began bombing military targets in Afghanistan in response to the Taliban's refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda terrorist network that perpetrated the terrorist attacks of Setpember 11, 2001. Within months, the Taliban government was smashed and an interim government was in place, but its future was uncertain. This book chronicles the debate that preceded the war in Afghanistan, examines the nature of the war itself, and explores the ways in which the U.S. - led attack laid the groundwork for Afghanistan's future.