Afghanistan Did Not Have to Turn Out This Way

Retired Gen. David Petraeus writes in The Atlantic about why the U.S. underachieved across its 20 years in Afghanistan and “why one of our signature campaigns resulted in such unending frustration.”

In particular, he says the U.S. lacked strategic resolve: “The lack of sufficient commitment over the years had innumerable knock-on effects. Having leaders of successive U.S. administrations of both parties repeatedly stating that we wanted to leave, often regardless of the conditions on the ground, undermined our negotiating position with the Taliban and had a corrosive impact on our relations with our Afghan partners, our coalition allies, and the countries in the region, especially Pakistan. However understandable the publicly stated desires to draw down were, the negative implications of them were substantial and pernicious.”