James Michener wrote a book titled "Caravans," in 1963.
One thesis of this historical fiction, is that Afghanistan has been largely resistant, to takeover by outsiders for centuries.
Many tried, nobody succeeded. This predated the USSR involvement, but was predictive of their result.
Now 16 yrs. after 9/11/2001 and several reboots, we ought to ask what our goal is, what price in blood and treasury we will pay, and how about other approaches.