<P> In the summer of 2013, preparing for withdrawal the following year, the U.S. military destroyed over 77,000 metric tons of equipment and vehicles worth over $7 billion that could not be shipped back to the United States . Some was sold to Afghans as scrap metal . In 2013, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a U.S. government oversight body, criticized the misuse or waste of hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid, including the $772 million purchase of aircraft for the Afghan military especially since "the Afghans lack the capacity to operate and maintain them ." </P> <P> In a 2008 interview, the then - head U.S. Central Command General David H. Petraeus, insisted that the Taliban were gaining strength . He cited a recent increase in attacks in Afghanistan and in neighboring Pakistan . Petraeus insisted that the problems in Afghanistan were more complicated than the ones he had faced in Iraq during his tour and required removing widespread sanctuaries and strongholds . </P> <P> Observers have argued that the mission in Afghanistan is hampered by a lack of agreement on objectives, a lack of resources, lack of coordination, too much focus on the central government at the expense of local and provincial governments, and too much focus on the country instead of the region . </P> <P> In 2009, Afghanistan moved three places in Transparency International's annual index of corruption, becoming the world's second most - corrupt country just ahead of Somalia . In the same month, Malalai Joya, a former member of the Afghan Parliament and the author of "Raising My Voice", expressed opposition to an expansion of the U.S. military presence and her concerns about the future . "Eight years ago, the U.S. and NATO--under the banner of women's rights, human rights, and democracy--occupied my country and pushed us from the frying pan into the fire . Eight years is enough to know better about the corrupt, mafia system of President Hamid Karzai . My people are crushed between two powerful enemies . From the sky, occupation forces bomb and kill civilians...and on the ground, the Taliban and warlords continue their crimes . It is better that they leave my country; my people are that fed up . Occupation will never bring liberation, and it is impossible to bring democracy by war ." </P>

What is the war in iraq and afghanistan about