Afghanistan has been a place for trade for centries. Alexander the Great used the country of Afghanistan as a passageway to get to India in 334 BC. In 1218, Genghis Khan of Mongolia conquered the country. Around this time Islamic influence came and became the dominant religion. In 1893 , Great Britian established an unofficial border separating Afghanistan from India. In 1919, Afghanistan became an independent country. Unfortunatly for the United States, Afghanistan became allies with the Soviet Union duing the cold war. Here is when it all gets worse, in 1996, a number of Islamic extremist calling themselves the "Taliban" took over control of Kabul. In the same year, The Taliban took over the Afghanistan goverment. The Taliban grew in size. On September 11th, 2001, a group of Taliban terrorists, al-Qaeda hijacked 4 American planes and launched an attack on the United States. Two planes collided with the World Trade Center in New York, New York. One plane crashed into the pentagon, and the other crashed into a field in Penn., but was said to be heading towards the White House. On October 7th of the same year, the Taliban refused to turn over Osama Bin Laden so the United States bombed Afghanistan Military installations. On December 7th, The Taliban regime in Afghanistan collapsed. A interim goverment was set in effect at the same time. In 2002, Peacekeeping forces entered the country. In 2004, On January 4th, a new constitution was written, and things looked to be turning around. The United States and NATO have teamed together to stop the Taliban save civilians from danger. As of October 2009, there were about 68,000 United States Troops trying to stop the terror in Afghanistan. Since Obama was elected President in 2008, ABC news poll found that Afghanistan's approval of the United States went from 45 percent in 2007 to 23 percent in 2008. Population in major cities have changed in the past 10 years. In 2001, the capital city of Kabul populated about 1.2 million people. Now Kabul holds more then 5 million people. The weak Afghanistan army relies so much on the United States Military. If U.S. soldiers leave, civillians fear of another uprising from the Taliban. Things are getting better in Afghanistan, but I would say it still is not a safe place to live.