[oldE]

I remember thinking when the Soviets went into Afghanistan, "Here is their Viet Nam" As mentioned above, the place has been where empires go to die.
You can suppress hostile activity from the air, but you will not control all activity all the time.
Why spend that kind of money to change the culture of a region half way around the world?
Why would you try to use force to try to reshape a people into your idea of what a country should be?
The idea 20 years ago was to pacify an area which supported terrorism. It turned out to be a trillion dollar game of whack a mole.
It probably would have been cheaper to offer free flights out and a new life for anyone who wanted to escape back then.

Best
Les