Why are there so many non-military Americans still in Afghanistan anyway?

[Sympthsical]

11. Contractors

Private contractors often provide services for the military. There were also contractors working with the Afghan government and military.

In war, not everyone is either part of our military or government. Plenty of private citizens wander over to make a buck. They get paid a lot because of the danger. For example, one of the problems with the Afghan army is that they were reliant on American contractors to service their air force. The State department banned them from entering the country a bit ago. So, no one was servicing the planes.

Just one example of hundreds.

There are also aid workers there as well under private NGOs.