20 Years Later in Afghanistan, Considering the Cost of Quagmire

<p>On April 13 <a href= "https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-us-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan/2021/04/13/918c3cae-9beb-11eb-8a83-3bc1fa69c2e8_story.html"> President Biden announced  his plan to withdraw all remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan</a> by September 11, 2021, the twentieth anniversary of the <a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/911-hijackers">9/11 attacks</a> on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Currently there are approximately 3,500 American troops in Afghanistan.</p> <p>With no consensus at home on the decision to withdraw US troops, Afghanistan remains a Grave of Empires. True to Thomas Jefferson's formulation that most wars end with the restoration of the <em><a href= "https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/status%20quo%20ante%20bellum"> status quo ante bellum</a></em> (things go right back to the way things were before all the loss of blood and treasure). </p> <p>You can listen and subscribe to the full series of The Future in Context at Governing.com/podcast</p> <p> </p>