The fall of Afghanistan in 2021 is the result of years of American delusion

On Sunday morning, Taliban fighters captured Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield — the symbol and source of U.S. power projection in the region for 20 years — releasing thousands of prisoners. Within hours, Taliban fighters were trickling into the city center with little resistance. The Taliban had already swept in and captured the capital city of Kabul. By nightfall, President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country, and the Taliban's reconquest of Afghanistan was complete.

Last Monday in Doha, Qatar — the site of fruitless peace talks with the Taliban across now two administrations — the...