Yes they did, its all a battlefield. The bounds of the battlefield are not determined by you. What you are doing is the same thing the other stupid white people the Red Coats were saying when they eventually left Amercia back in the 1700s.
"King Georgia, they don't fight right"
No real objective was met in Afghanistan + Wasted lives + Wasted resources + broken promises to allies + Eventually couldn't stomach the occupation = LOSERS
"If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. "
"Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain. "
"There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. "
"Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. "
"To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. "
"Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it. "
"Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive."
"By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march; then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him. "
"You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked. "
"By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy's must be divided. "
"The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points; and his forces being thus distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will be proportionately few. "
"So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak"
Just a few things from Art of War on this subject.
"All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved."
No strategy going in, your army lost and did not achieve anything i.e. failure or lost. Its a all a battlefield. The whole strategy for Osama was to bait the United States into unwinnable wars, he did it with almost no money and a couple of dozen guys.
Just think of how many stupid white people died because of the other stupid white people. for no freaking reason. Rinse and repeat over and over. If you really think about it, its amazing white people still exist, they have been busy sending white people on suicide missions since the time of the crusades.