The difference between Afghanistan in 2001 (just after 9/11) and 2021? The territory occupied by the Taliban was much-much smaller in 2001. Not only did the Taliban conquer the whole country in 2021, but it gained a 'little' bonus in the form of more than $80 billion worth of sophisticated American weaponry. Go figure. Don't tell me that former president Dwight Eisenhower was wrong when he said that the military-industrial complex has its own dynamics.