system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 why we are in a "war" right now?

I understand that it's not considered technically a "war," but why are our troops in the Middle East (and ect.)?

I was pretty young when 9/11 happened, and I really feel clueless.  I'm actually pretty embarrassed at my lack of knowledge of it all. (Almost made a throwaway and all) Can anyone explain to me why our troops are in Iraq and such?
gpt
The invasion of Afghanistan occurred as a direct response to 9/11. The goal was to go after the terrorist organizations that planned the attacks and find the people responsible. 

Iraq is a bit harder to explain. Basically, the American people were told that the dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (he didn't). We invaded that country and that's pretty much that. 

Troop withdrawal is a very slow process, but we're already starting to see it unfold. After years of fighting, Afghanistan has been mostly cleared of the terrorists and Iraq has been ousted of their dictator. The reason the troops are still there is because it would be pointless to withdraw them immediately...by going slow, we can ensure a smooth transition for the country to go back to being on their own. Plus, in both Iraq and Afghanistan our military is training soldiers from those areas to serve and defend their country once we leave.