Orientalist Maria Kicha gave her assessment of Operation Enduring Freedom; UN records separately document the US legal position and the mandate of a different international mission.
Orientalist Maria Kicha told RIA Novosti that the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan was an example of Washington interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. In her view, US policy in the region contributes to the creation of adversaries. RIA presented Kicha’s remarks about financial flows and drug trafficking in Afghanistan as her opinion; the report did not provide documents substantiating those claims.
The operation began on October 7, 2001, following the September 11 attacks. In a letter to the UN Security Council that day, the United States said it was acting in individual and collective self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
In December 2001, the Security Council separately authorized the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). This was a distinct mission, not Operation Enduring Freedom.