Afghanistan government forces, for the first time, have tried to retake the city of Kunduz from the Taliban. I asked a relative of mine, who is in the armed forces, “Are the Afghanistan fighters actually helping the U.S. forces?” He said, “All operations and missions that U.S. take part are led by the Afghans” and that “The U.S. is only there for support and to let them barrow or technology.”

This greatly changed what I thought about the Afghan troops and about how they are fighting in the battles. This battle particular lasted multiple days and cost many lives. It took both Taliban and government lives along with many civilian deaths. The heaviest of the fighting was in the center of the city. During the fight people have described what it was like to be hiding in their houses while bullets flew by and mortars blew up near them. After this fight the civilian still do not feel safe in their own homes.

Some other cities near Kunduz did not have the same amount of courage as the people of Kunduz did. Cities like Pul-i-Kumri and Taliqan said they were preparing to evacuate so they would not get slaughtered by the Taliban. While these cities have not been completely evacuated or taken over they still need to be on high alert so they can either defend themselves or run when they are attacked.

In the provenance of Takhar where Taliqan is located, they were put on high alert when they received news that a northern district had fallen. The reports state that the people of Takhar were preparing to evacuate. The people feared that this city would fall easier than the others.

The “domino effect” is a fear of the people in the surrounding provenances. They believe that because other cities have fallen it’s just a matter of time before they follow in their footsteps. The “domino effect” has begun to worry some western military strategists as well. They believe that the longer the Taliban can hold up their defensive the more momentum and strength they will gain. They will also be more confident if they are able to keep us at bay.

I asked Mr. Spencer “Do you believe we should send more troops over?” He told me, “I think we should listen to our military leaders and set our troops strength as to what we think is adequate.” As of right now Military Leaders have ruled out sending a large number of troops over. There are currently discussions to send a small number of troops and some special operations forces to assist the Afghans.

The main way that the Taliban are getting troops and supplies to different parts of the providences are drug routes. They are used to trafficking opium and heroine so adding guns and ammo to the mix is not too much of a challenge. As long as the Taliban uses the supposed to be “trade” routes for their illegal activities it will be extremely hard to keep them from advancing.

He also told me his opinion on these matters. He said he believes that we should stay and fight because we have already been fighting for more than a decade and that we have already spent millions of dollars and we should not let it all go to waste. Mr. Spencer agreed saying “If we (leave) the Taliban will take over.”

I personally believe that this war will always be going on in some way as long as there are still Muslim extremists in the world.