Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her book Hard Choices, called Afghanistan a wicked problem that is neither abating nor ending. Afghanistan was under the iron rule of the Taliban when Al-Qaeda attacked US embassies in East Africa in 1998. In response to this the Clinton administration launched an attack using cruise missiles – known as Operation Infinite Reach – on Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. Thus the American war on Afghan soil was waged first in 1998, and then executed with full wrath after 9/11 when the Taliban refused to hand over Bin Laden and other leaders of Al-Qaeda to the US. The Bush administration used this opportunity to invade Afghanistan and keep an eye on friends and foes in the region.