The U.S. general in charge of the war in Afghanistan just stepped down, the Biden administration has completedmore than 90%of its planned drawdownof our military presence, and the Taliban have doubled the territory they heldearlier this year – their rapid expansion surprising even them.
More than 1,000 Afghan troops fled to neighboring Tajikistan last week rather than face Taliban fighters and Bagram Airfield was promptly lootedafter American forces left it late at night, without electricity or advance notice to Afghan officials.
There are two competing narratives of these developments and their meaning for U.S. foreign policy. One is the very reason Afghanistan became the United States’ longest war. The other, should it come to hold sway, could finally break our post-9/11 pattern of dangerous, costly and inhumane military meddling in the greater Middle East.
