The real world of Afghan fiasco

 H.R. McMaster:

Stop pretending Afghanistan catastrophe is anything but utter failure 

The war against jihadist terrorist organizations is not over

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A fundamental lesson of Afghanistan is that wars are interactive and that progress in war and diplomacy is never linear. That is why the war in Afghanistan and the broader war against jihadist terrorist organizations is not over; it is entering a new, more dangerous era. Containing the catastrophe in Afghanistan and learning from it will require U.S. leaders to confront the truth of our experience in Afghanistan and stop pretending.
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The psychological blows we delivered to our Afghan allies included negotiating with the Taliban without the Afghan government, not insisting on a cease fire, forcing the Afghan government to release 5,000 terrorists, curtailing intelligence support, ending active pursuit of the Taliban, withdrawing all aircraft from the country, and terminating contractor support for Afghan forces.

Stop pretending that we can end so-called endless wars by withdrawal. Wars do not end when one party disengages and our enemies are waging an endless jihad. We failed to learn from our complete withdrawal from Iraq in December 2011 and the subsequent reemergence of al Qaeda in Iraq which morphed into ISIS. By the summer of 2014, ISIS gained control of territory the size of Britain and became the most destructive terrorist organization in history. As the English philosopher and theologian ­­­­G.K. Chesterton observed, war may not be the best way of settling differences, but it may be the only way to ensure that they are not settled for you.
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The enemy always has a say when the war is over unless he has been wiped out or concedes defeat.