The United States invaded Afghanistan three weeks following the 9/11 attacks.
Latest statistics indicate that the US-led occupation of Afghanistan is now as long as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics' (USSR) between 1979 and 1989.
Figures compiled from media reports show it has been exactly nine years and fifty days since US troops first set foot in Afghanistan.
This is also exactly the length of time that the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan before being forced to leave the country in 1989.
Experts say the two invasions had different goals; the Soviet Union wanted to transform Afghanistan into a modern socialist state.
In 2001, the US and its allies said they were invading Afghanistan to wipe out terrorism. However, the US-led occupation of the country has now turned into a long war of attrition.
This is while NATO has admitted that the militants have increased their power in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion.
About 660 foreign troops have been killed in Afghanistan so far in 2010. This year has already been the deadliest for NATO since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.
About 150,000 NATO troops are currently fighting in Afghanistan with plans to stay in the country beyond 2014.
This is while Obama had pledged a major drawdown from Afghanistan by July 2011. Experts have described the new transition dates as a devastating truth for Americans.
The increase in the casualties of US-led foreign forces has raised opposition to the Afghan war in countries which have contributed troops to the mission.
The United Nations recently announced that Afghan civilian deaths soared by over 30 percent in 2010 compared to the same period last year.
The Pentagon has admitted in a recent report that the US has failed to establish security in Afghanistan.
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