Essentially, whoever could - both the defence sector (corporations, PMCs, think-tanks) and the NGOs…
Nobody really cared about 'democratising Afghanistan' or 'democratising Iraq': all that was important was profit.
Essentially, whoever could - both the defence sector (corporations, PMCs, think-tanks) and the NGOs found it opportune to, de-fact, money-launcher taxpayer's money into own pockets by fighting 'endless wars' for 20 years.
Nobody really cared about 'democratising Afghanistan' or 'democratising Iraq': all that was important was profit.
For in-depth analysis when it comes to Afghanistan, the best summary I found is this:
Keep that one in mind when continuing through the following:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/09/13/the-other-afghan-women
https://www.sarahchayes.org/post/the-ides-of-august
https://www.mei.edu/publications/youre-all-going-die-persuading-pakistans-generals-see-light
https://books.google.at/books/about/Qatar_Papers.html?id=HU3ZDwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/08/what-i-learned-while-eavesdropping-on-the-taliban/619807