Security continues to elude Afghans eight years into US-led war

The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York led to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

However, as Washington turned its attention to Iraq, the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated.

The Taliban and its allies are reportedly resurging, supplied and operating from bases in Pakistan and well financed by the opium crop.

And while the US has all along stressed a strategy for a better living standard for Afghans, for many there has been little improvement, with poor or non-existent electricity supplies and complaints of little investment in agriculture.

Eight years on, and with a high number of US and Nato casualties, Barack Obama, the US president, has said the conflict is still worth fighting, saying it is essential to the country's defence. 

As Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman reports from Washington, the war former President George Bush began shows no signs of ending in the near future.