Interestingly, there was talk after the American invasion of re-instating the (then-still living) former king of Afghanistan who ruled the country from 1933 to

Interestingly, there was talk after the American invasion of re-instating the (then-still living) former king of Afghanistan who ruled the country from 1933 to 1973 when he was overthrown in favor of a democracy. It's impossible to say if such a counterfactual could have possibly courted more legitimacy for the current government (thus bleeding Taliban support from the population), but it does make you wonder.