The Afghanistan Mirage - Strategic failure explains operational failure.
Was victory possible or even definable? Across two decades, policymakers have focused on operations without strategy.
There is a misconception that the United States has lost Afghanistan and that President Biden bears the responsibility.
First, the United States could only lose Afghanistan if victory were possible. It was not and has never been possible, given the type of adversary, the condition of Afghanistan as a functioning state (it was not) before the Taliban, and…