The lust for controlling Afghani resources was passed off as humanitarian concerns. Honestly, I don't think a US soldier should've ever suffered so much as a scraped knee so Afghani girls could learn to read or whatever was the excuse-of-the-day for intervention.
I never understood why GWB went in there. Saudi Arabia is the country we needed, and still need, to worry about. It would've made much more sense to stop Afghanis and their poppy crop from leaving their country than aspiring to control or change them.
I think we were there partly to guard their narcoeconomy.