A better playbook for America's Afghan engagment?

Photo by nasim dadfar on Unsplash

A thoughtful reader asked me a key question the other day: what would have been a better playbook than the way America’s Afghan engagement ran for nearly 20 years, with this chaotic ending.

My first response would be that it shouldn’t have lasted 20 years. Having despatched the Taliban, who were sheltering the chief conspiracist of the 9/11 attacks, the US should have left somewhere around the 2005 mark. Second, the US should have convened a conference — including Iran — of all Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours. Countries like India in the near abroad should have been given observer status. The objective of such an exercise (and make no mistake, it would’ve been devilishly hard to bring about) is regional buy-in to keep Afghanistan’s borders tight.

But both of those points no longer matter. They belong in a hypothetical playbook, one that doesn’t exist and cannot come into being.

The only playbook that matters is the one that is real.

The thoughtful reade…