The outcome of U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan

Some hope that the hasty and haphazard U.S. withdrawal won’t lead to Taliban rule or that the jihadist group will govern more gently than before. That optimism is misplaced, and the disaster likely to come will have global consequences.

Many observers fear that the Taliban will soon re-establish an Islamic emirate in Afghanistan. Scarcely a day passes without news of their advances. They now control about half of Afghanistan’s roughly 400 districts.

Atrocities have accompanied the Taliban’s battlefield gains. A video last month purportedly showed the Taliban executing 22 Afghan government special forces after they surrendered.