The Costs of the Afghanistan Withdrawal Debacle

In diplomacy and national security, as with personal relations and social life, credibility is a precious good. Once lost, it is difficult to recover. With its botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021 – accompanied by falsehoods it disseminated to conceal its blunders and to meet its domestic political goals – the Biden administration dealt a blow to American credibility and undercut U.S. interests.