<P> U.S. President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden and expel al - Qaeda ; bin Laden had already been wanted by the FBI since 1998 . The Taliban declined to extradite him unless given what they deemed convincing evidence of his involvement in the 9 / 11 attacks and ignored demands to shut down terrorist bases and hand over other terrorist suspects apart from bin Laden . The request was dismissed by the U.S. as a meaningless delaying tactic and it launched Operation Enduring Freedom on 7 October 2001 with the United Kingdom . The two were later joined by other forces , including the Northern Alliance troops on the ground . The U.S. and its allies rapidly drove the Taliban from power by 17 December 2001 , and built military bases near major cities across the country . Most al - Qaeda and Taliban members were not captured , escaping to neighboring Pakistan or retreating to rural or remote mountainous regions during the Battle of Tora Bora . </P>
<P> U.S. President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden and expel al - Qaeda ; bin Laden had already been wanted by the FBI since 1998 . The Taliban declined to extradite him unless given what they deemed convincing evidence of his involvement in the 9 / 11 attacks and ignored demands to shut down terrorist bases and hand over other terrorist suspects apart from bin Laden . The request was dismissed by the U.S. as a meaningless delaying tactic and it launched Operation Enduring Freedom on 7 October 2001 with the United Kingdom . The two were later joined by other forces , including the Northern Alliance troops on the ground . The U.S. and its allies rapidly drove the Taliban from power by 17 December 2001 , and built military bases near major cities across the country . Most al - Qaeda and Taliban members were not captured , escaping to neighboring Pakistan or retreating to rural or remote mountainous regions during the Battle of Tora Bora . </P>
who was president when the afghanistan war started
who was president when the afghanistan war started
George W. Bush
George W. Bush