Afghanistan Withdrawl One Year Later: Where Are We?

On April 14 2021, President Biden announced that a full withdrawal from Afghanistan -- one that President Trump had previously promised would happen by May -- would go forward by September 11. The withdrawal turned out to be chaotic and deadly. By August 15, Kabul had fallen to the Taliban, and 13 US service-members were subsequently killed. Now, as we approach the one year anniversary of that date, how should we think about the withdrawal decision? Was the price too high? Or does the recent killing of the world's top terrorist there help show that it was the best decision in the long run? Sean Carberry is a foreign affairs expert, consultant, and an award winning journalist and media producer with unique experience reporting on conflict. He served as NPR’s international correspondent based in Kabul, Afghanistan after reporting for NPR from more than two dozen war torn middle eastern and African countries. He worked for the US department of Defense as the lead on Department of Defense Inspector General reports on Afghanistan. Photo by Andre Klimke on Unsplash