America devoted more than two decades and over $2 trillion to the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. The price was measured not only in dollars, but in sacrifice. More than 2,400 brave Americans gave their lives, while many thousands returned home carrying physical and emotional wounds. Families also bore the burden, spending months and years apart from loved ones serving in one of the world’s most dangerous war zones, and then learning how to take care of those loved ones when they came home.  

As someone who fought in Operation Enduring Freedom, this topic hits home for me, especially as we approach the 25th anniversary of September 11th. Nothing prepares you for a war without clear battle lines or for an enemy that operates without rules. But my fellow soldiers and I gave everything we had to defeat the enemy. That’s why watching the way it ended was so heartbreaking. 

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I distinctly remember watching footage of hundreds of panicked Afghans piling into a C-17 to evacuate as the Taliban captured Kabul — and others chasing after the plane, trying to hang on the side, or hiding in the wheel well. Most also can recall heart-wrenching footage of an infant being handed over the airport wall to a soldier as his parents were being crushed in the surging crowd. And most especially, I remember the 13 flag-draped coffins coming home after the bombing at Abbey Gate. 

This outcome was not inevitable. There is no question about it. The Biden administration botched the Afghanistan withdrawal. While the troops on the ground — from the airmen and soldiers to the Marines and sailors did heroic work during the evacuation, there was a major leadership problem. Prioritizing political optics over the reality on the ground and ignoring warnings from military leaders, former President Joe Biden chose an arbitrary withdrawal deadline — and shared it with the world, including the enemy. For Biden, it was more important to get headlines declaring he ended the longest war than it was to protect U.S. troops, State Department personnel, military contractors, and Afghan........

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