Damn Afghanistan

The decision of how to leave Afghanistan has been made by several presidents, and the work of winding down and backing out has been underway almost since the beginning, almost to no avail. The decision of when to pull the plug, to say that there is nothing more that can be done that will actually change the outcome in Afghanistan was hard because it would always look like failure. So that can has been kicked down the road, until now. Why so? The Taliban wouldn't cut a deal because time is on their side, and they merely have to wait it out until the US leaves. Despite spending more on Afghanistan than on rebuilding Europe after World War II, little progress has been made. It would not be surprising if the Taliban controlled all of Afghanistan within a decade. So Biden's move was both bold and also doomed.+ Afghanistan is a notoriously difficult country to govern. Empire after empire, nation after nation have failed to pacify what is today the modern territory of Afghanistan, giving the region the nickname “Graveyard of Empires, ” even if sometimes those empires won some initial battles and made inroads into the region. If the United States and its allies decide to leave Afghanistan, they would only the latest in a long series of nations to do so. As the British learned in their 1839-1842 war in Afghanistan, it is often easier to do business with a local ruler with popular support than to support a leader backed by foreign powers; the costs of propping up such a leader eventually add up. The closest most historical empires have come to controlling Afghanistan was by adopting a light-handed approach, as the Mughals did. They managed to loosely control the area by paying off various tribes, or granting them autonomy. Attempts at anything resembling centralized control, even by native Afghan governments, have largely failed. We are in good company, if that is any consolation.