[Villages Kahuna]

So much easier said than done. Once we began to withdraw our military and Afghan employees, the “government” we set up and the army we equipped and claimed we had trained began to quickly collapse as the result. Withdrawing before every single person who wanted to be removed from the country was impossible as soon as we lost control of the country and those desiring to leave couldn’t safely gain access to the airport.

The Taliban essentially won the conflict when the terms of our surrender were documented in the Doha Agreement agreed to by president Trump in 2020, then worsened when president Biden announced the specific date when we would leave.

Once our political leaders made those mistakes, the sequence of withdrawal you suggest became impossible. It was amazing that we were able to get as many people safely out of the country as we did. But our failure to fulfill the promises we made to the Afghans who were loyal to us for years won’t be forgotten by those with whom we attempt to make future agreements. Afghanistan will be another important reason why the reliability and consistency of U.S. foreign policy is mistrusted.