Invasion of Afghanistan
On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda destroyed the World Trade Center in New York, partially destroyed the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and downed a commercial jet in an unprecedented series of terrorist attacks. On September 18, 2001, the President signed into law an authorization from Congress to use force against the perpetrators of those attacks. Less than a month later, on October 7, 2001, the United States and its ally Great Britain began their invasion of Afghanistan. [See sources.]
In the Talented community, the September 11 attacks and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan has several extra dimensions. Mages surrounded the Twin Towers and were able to forestall their collapse by several minutes, allowing more people to evacuate. Later, it was discovered that Magio-Supremacists, though domestic, aided the September 11 attacks, and, indeed, launched several attacks of their own on Talented and magical targets in New York City, camouflaging their destruction beneath Al-Qaeda's. Victor Einhorn, as the Secretary of the Department of Integrated Services, was quick to realize the connection and bring it to the attention of the President and Vice President. Both leaders were initially unimpressed. Then, in a matter of days, Einhorn and the DIS produced intelligence on Al-Qaeda's whereabouts while the mundane intelligence agencies were still frantically working. This intelligence led to the authorization of force against Al-Qaeda and the subsequent airstrikes in October.
Victor Einhorn also offered magi-military support for the Invasion of Afghanistan, which the President and Vice President declined (as they refused to believe that magic was real, let alone effective). Einhorn was, however, able to convince the military Secretaries to utilize Embedded Mages as part of the invasion force. Once on the ground, the embedded mages in Special Forces and in the regular ground troops were able trace the Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders as they fled, but the Vice President and various generals rejected this intelligence as unconfirmed (some were not so polite), and the Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders escaped. Einhorn, embedded mages, and mages and Talented people working in the mundane CIA and other intelligence agencies are currently working on ways to funnel magical intelligence to the administration covertly, so that it will be heeded and used.
Dr. Einhorn's initial intelligence contribution, however, brought the domestic terrorists onto the administration's radar, and the DIS was given sweeping power to pursue the Magio-Supremacists because of their connection to Al-Qaeda. Dr. Einhorn dispatched the M-FBI and the Special Curse Crimes Unit to track down and arrest the perpetrators of the magical attacks on New York. So far, only minor members of three magio-supremacist organizations have been arrested. They have been questioned extensively by the M-FBI, but none have had enough information on the connection between the domestic magio-supremacist attacks to be of use to the mundane administration. These terrorists are scheduled to go on trial in April.
Currently, in 2002, the Invasion of Afghanistan continues, though the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have fled. The DIS continues to work behind the scenes to bolster the United States and her allies in the invasion. Dr. Einhorn is keen to get more embedded intelligence and military mages, as well as Healers, on the ground in Afghanistan. So far, no mages have died in the conflict.
Sources
The historical information in the first and last paragraphs comes from my recollection of the events and the following websites:
CFP.org (no author listed). The US War in Afghanistan, 1999-2020. No date. Accessed 30 July, 2020.
Associated Press. A Timeline of Key Events in Afghanistan's 40 Years of War. 29 February 2020. Accessed 30 July, 2020.
The Conflict
Prelude
The September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., as well as a hijacked plane, downed in Pennsylvania.
Conflict Type
Military Campaign
Start Date
2001
Ending Date
ongoing
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