After 20 years of blood and sweat, we left Afghanistan precipitously:
• Most troops removed first, then remembered civilians.
• Closed secure Bagram airbase, then relied on commercial airport in middle of Kabul.
• Security of withdrawal route an afterthought, if thought about at all.
• Left hundreds of Americans, thousands of friendly Afghans, billions in weapons behind.
• Got 13 US troops killed by lack of planning.
• No one fired, nothing changed since debacle.
• Defense Secretary “Are we woke yet” Austin and General “Got straight A’s in politics” Milley still in charge, insofar as anyone is in charge.

My high school ROTC class would have laughed at this Three Stooges level of leadership. But there is no sign anything has changed. This is the course material for Afghanistan 101.

Vladimir Putin is a good student. You can bet serious money he will get a strong A in the course. And he will ace the practical exam that follows in Ukraine. But he can’t take all the credit. Biden, Austin, and Milley are excellent teachers. They really know how to make their lessons memorable.