This month marks the one-year anniversary of our disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, one of the most disgraceful episodes in contemporary American memory.

For obvious reasons, many of our leaders hope to forget August 2021, a month that will forever live in infamy for American veterans, service members, allies and our former Afghan partners. The uncommon valor and competence of America’s warriors, diplomats and intelligence professionals was — once again — on full display for the world to see. Regrettably, so too was the staggering ineptitude of civilian policymakers determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of an imperfect but acceptable status quo. 

The violent and chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was a strategic failure that betrayed our values and weakened our global standing while simultaneously emboldening adversaries like Russia, China and the very same violent extremists that murdered thousands of Americans in September 2001.